President Donald Trump rescinded his 2016 presidential primary nickname for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and bestowed a new one on the way to a Monday campaign rally in Texas.
“He’s not Lyin’ Ted anymore,” Trump declared, adding “he’s Beautiful Ted, he’s Texas Ted.”
He said he now gets along with his former campaign rival. Trump recalled the final months of the 2016 presidential primary in which Cruz was his last viable remaining rival saying it became “very nasty” but said now “I like him a lot. He is a very smart guy. He loves the people of Texas, which I do too.”
PEARLAND, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump, with first lady Melania Trump, greets Sen. Ted Cruz (R) (R-TX) while visiting a volunteer center packing emergency supplies for residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey at the First Church of Pearland September 2, 2017 in Pearland, Texas. Pearland, just south of Houston, was heavily damaged by the floodwaters created by the hurricane. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The president will now campaign with Cruz in Texas Monday evening at a rally.
US President Donald Trump hands a pen to Republican US Senator from Texas Ted Cruz after signing a letter of principles on air traffic control reform after announcing the Air Traffic Control Reform Initiative in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 5, 2017. (Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) talks with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during an event regarding the modernization the nation’s air traffic control system, in the East Room at the White House on June 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Trump coined the phrase “Lyin Ted” early in the 2016 presidential campaign and pilloried his opponent with the moniker nearly every chance he got. At different points, the president implied that Cruz’s father may have played a role in the 1963 assassination of JFK and at one point appeared to attack the appearance of his wife.
LYIN’ TED pic.twitter.com/Q0qXDGCN1l
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2016