President Trump embraced his one-time nemesis Sen. Ted Cruz as a “really good friend” in a Texas rally Monday night that drew at least 18,000 people in Houston, with thousands more waiting outside.
Ditching the name-calling, Trump and Cruz exchanged an extended handshake and a bro-hug before cheering crowds at the Toyota Center and lavished praise on each other.
The president acknowledged his rocky relationship with Cruz when they were fierce competitors in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. Trump then dubbed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” insulted his wife’s looks and implicated his father in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“We had our little difficulties,” Trump said. “But actually if you remember in the beginning it was a love fest … Then it got nasty. And then it ended and I’ll tell you what nobody has helped me more.”
Trump feted Cruz with a mega rally filled with supporters wearing “Make America Great Again” hats since the GOP senator is facing an unusually competitive race against Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke. At stake on Nov. 6 is whether Republicans can hold onto control of the Senate and the House and maintain Trump’s one-party rule in Washington.
Trump bashed O’Rourke as a “stone-cold phony” and praised Cruz for ushering in his latest Supreme Court nominee by “staring down an angry left-wing mob.”
Cruz once called Trump a “serial philanderer” and “sniveling coward.” He famously withheld his endorsement of Trump at the 2016 GOP convention and got booed.
Since then, Trump said Cruz has grown into a “really good friend” who is a strong defender of the border, tax cuts and the Second Amendment.
At the end of his rowdy one-hour-and-16-minute speech, Trump told the crowd: “You need to vote for Ted Cruz. He’s a terrific, great senator.”
About an hour before the rally began, the Toyota Center was already at capacity with 18,000 to 19,000 people. There were another 3,000 people watching outside on TV screens, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Inside there was no sign of the animosity between the former rivals. The odd couple had a 15-second greeting on stage as Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” blared. First a hearty handshake and arm grab, followed by Cruz pulling the president in for a hug and back slap.
Cruz touted his newfound companionship with the president.
“I’m going to make a prediction to each and every person here, in 2020 Donald Trump will be overwhelmingly reelected as president of the United States,” Cruz said to huge cheers.
Cruz added: “I look forward to campaigning alongside him in 2020.”
Trump kicked off the bromance earlier in the day by giving Cruz a new nickname.
“He’s not Lyin’ Ted anymore. He’s Beautiful Ted. I call him Texas Ted,” Trump said as he boarded Marine One en route to Houston.
But Trump said he also had no regrets about suggesting Cruz’s dad, Rafael, was linked to the JFK assassination.
“I don’t regret anything, honestly. It all worked out very nicely,” he said.
