Why Ted Cruz is lashing out at Mitch McConnell - CNN

CNN  — 

Ted Cruz went ham connected Mitch McConnell connected Monday.

“Mitch would alternatively beryllium person than person a Republican majority,” Cruz said connected his podcast. “If there’s a Republican who tin triumph who’s not going to enactment Mitch, the information of the substance is he’d alternatively the Democrat win.”

Which, well, whoa!

Cruz has besides been portion of a tiny radical of Republican senators pushing to delay enactment elections, scheduled to instrumentality spot connected Wednesday, until aft the December 6 runoff successful Georgia. On Tuesday, Cruz said it would beryllium “utterly insane” to clasp the enactment elections earlier determination was a postmortem of the midterm results, which led to Democrats keeping power of the Senate.

“I judge we should person a person that really listens to the conference, and that is consenting to basal and fight, doesn’t rotation implicit immediately,” Cruz said. “Our existent enactment believes the mode you triumph elections is that you don’t basal for anything, you don’t person an agenda, you don’t person a plan. Instead, that the lone happening you basal up and accidental is ‘Well, I’m not a Democrat. So ballot for me.’ You cognize what? Election Day showed we request to beryllium much than conscionable not a Democrat.”

How to explicate Cruz’s rhetoric astir McConnell? Easy. It’s politics.

Cruz has made nary concealed of his governmental ambitions. He finished arsenic the runner-up to Donald Trump successful the 2016 Republican statesmanlike primary. Although helium and Trump ended that contention connected acrimonious presumption – Trump falsely alleged that Cruz’s begetter mightiness person been progressive successful the assassination of John F. Kennedy and attacked his woman – Cruz yet endorsed Trump and became 1 of the erstwhile president’s most stalwart defenders successful the Senate.

The acquisition Cruz learned successful that evolving narration with Trump is that the Republican basal perfectly loves the erstwhile president and has zero involvement successful a campaigner who opposes him. (Whether that calculus has changed since a disappointing midterm predetermination effect for Republicans remains to beryllium seen.)

And so, Cruz has hewed arsenic intimately to Trump arsenic imaginable implicit these past fewer years – arsenic helium tries to marque amends for the sick volition from the 2016 race.

When you spot Cruz’s over-the-top absorption to the 2022 elections – and the quickness with which helium blamed McConnell – done that Trump lens, things commencement to marque much sense.

Trump has been an unrelenting successful his disapproval – and bullying – of McConnell successful the aftermath of the midterm elections.

“It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault,” Trump wrote successful a station connected his Truth Social website after Democrats secured power of the Senate. “He blew the midterms, and everyone despises him.”

And arsenic CNN precocious reported, Trump is pressuring his allies to blasted McConnell, too:

“In telephone calls with allies, elected officials and incoming members of Congress, the erstwhile President has accused McConnell of spending recklessly successful states wherever Republicans faced important headwinds astatine the disbursal of candidates successful much competitory contests.”

Cruz, then, is simply pursuing Trump’s instructions. He knows – due to the fact that helium tin number – that nary 1 is going to bushed McConnell in the election for Senate Republican leader. But that isn’t what truly matters to Cruz.

What does substance is virtue-signaling to the Trump basal that helium thinks McConnell has done a mediocre occupation – and that helium is aggravated astir it.

It’s besides worthy noting that the animosity betwixt Cruz and McConnell is not new. McConnell was openly frustrated erstwhile Cruz forced a authorities shutdown successful 2013 implicit then-President Barack Obama’s wellness attraction instrumentality – a strategy that the GOP person viewed arsenic utterly selfish and counter-productive to the party’s broader efforts.

Trump is wide expected to denote his 3rd bid for president connected Tuesday night. It’s hard to spot determination being abstraction for the Texas legislator successful a tract that includes the erstwhile president and possibly (likely?) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But Cruz could good beryllium angling to beryllium successful the vice-presidential premix if Trump winds up arsenic GOP nominee successful 2024. Either way, Cruz is placing a stake that being firmly successful the Trump campy (rather than the McConnell camp) volition wage aboriginal governmental dividends for him.

This communicative has been updated with further information.