Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is sharing what helped him forgive President Donald Trump after receiving attacks from then-candidate Trump during the race to become the party’s nominee in the 2016 presidential election.
The two had traded attacks during the 2016 campaign, and Cruz was dubbed “lyin’ Ted” by Trump.
Cruz dropped his campaign in the Republican primary in May of 2016, and didn’t endorse Trump until September of 2016, which led to the two working together since.
If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2016
Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
Speaking with ABC News’ Paula Faris on “Journeys of Faith” podcast, Cruz shared how he was able to forgive Trump for his past comments. He pointed to his faith and the importance of forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is critical to what it means to being a Christian,” Cruz said, adding, “And forgiveness is something I try to … I try to forgive certainly as God has forgiven us.”
“One of the reasons I feel blessed to be a Christian— Politics can be ugly, hard work. People say nasty things. Harry Truman famously said if you want a friend in Washington get a dog. […] I will say, having a foundation of faith gives you an ability not to let that trouble you. To stay focused on what you are doing and why.”
“I faced a very simple choice when President Trump was elected. I had a choice about whether or not to do my job, and we had obviously come through a rough and tumbled primary,” Cruz said, adding, “But he prevailed.”
“I could’ve taken my marbles and gone home … I think that would’ve been irresponsible. I think that would’ve been not doing the job Texans entrusted me to do.”
The Texas senator noted that a week after the election he met with Trump in New York City at Trump Tower to discuss the “historic opportunity” given after the election with Republican control in Washington, D.C. He added that he told Trump he wanted to make sure he was doing “everything humanly possible to lead the fight in the Senate to deliver on our promises.”
Cruz has become a strong supporter of Trump since he took office following the 2016 presidential election. However, though he backs the president on several things, there are still “many things Donald Trump says and does that I wish he didn’t say and didn’t do,” Cruz says.
In October of 2018, Trump stopped using the “lyin’ Ted” nickname and, instead, began calling Cruz “Beautiful Ted” and “Texas Ted,” ahead of a rally for Cruz.