Overview
- Axios reported Monday that Cruz is building a pre-campaign operation with a speaker circuit, a planned donor retreat, endorsements, and a large podcast and radio audience.
- In recent speeches to the Republican Jewish Coalition and Federalist Society, he castigated Carlson over a friendly Nick Fuentes interview, calling the host a coward and “complicit in evil.”
- Carlson dismissed the effort as “hilarious” in a text to Axios, while Trump praised Cruz as “a very good guy” and defended Carlson’s freedom to choose interview guests; Vance has condemned Fuentes but not Carlson.
- Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks said Cruz’s posture is “getting noticed” by pro-Israel donors worried about the party’s turn toward isolationism.
- Asked on Fox News about a 2028 run, Cruz declined to confirm and emphasized his Senate work, as new polls show him in low single digits far behind Vice President J.D. Vance.