Ted Cruz hopes Trump will swoop in to save him — in Texas

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is now all but begging Trump to come to his aid as he faces a serious re-election challenge against Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

At a campaign stop Monday, Cruz told supporters he has reached out to Trump.

“I would certainly welcome his support, and I hope to see him in Texas,” Cruz said. “I think we are likely to see the president down in Texas before the election.”

If Cruz is asking for Trump’s help in Texas, of all places, that’s a bad sign for Republicans.

Cruz won his first Texas Senate race by 16 points in 2012, which was an otherwise solidly Democratic year across the country. And in 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Texas by almost 9 points.

But, weighed down by Trump’s historic unpopularity, Republicans have been struggling across the country in races where they should be coasting to easy victories.

In many solidly red, pro-Trump districts, the Republican Party has had to mount multi-million-dollar efforts just to hold on to what used to be safe seats — and in some instances, the GOP has still outright lost.

The two most recent polls have Cruz ahead of O’Rourke by 6 and 2 points, a far cry from previous Republican dominance in the state.

Meanwhile, O’Rourke has been bringing in millions from individual donors. His grassroots campaign has refused funding from political action committees.

Cruz holding his hat out for Trump is even more humiliating given that Trump repeatedly denigrated him when they were rivals for the Republican nomination.

Trump infamously called Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” alleged that Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and even mocked the physical appearance of Heidi Cruz, Cruz’s wife.

Cruz declined to endorse Trump in his speech to the Republican convention — only to crumble soon after and back the racist Republican nominee after all.

Cruz later worked a phone bank for the man who had relentlessly insulted both him and his family.

Earlier this year, Cruz wrote an obsequious piece hailing Trump’s inclusion in the Time 100. Cruz described Trump as a “flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington,” which he meant in a positive sense.

Cruz appears to believe that his campaign is flagging so badly, it could use a boost from the wildly unpopular Trump. And by accepting help from a man who has repeatedly humiliated him, Cruz is showing he will do almost anything to keep his power.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.