A new ad urging Texas voters to
cast their ballots against Sen. Ted Cruz has a surprising messenger: President Trump.
Trump, employing a favorite tactic of his short political career, ceaselessly attacked and undermined the character of his main GOP rival Cruz in the 2016 campaign, casting him as “Lyin’ Ted.”
“He holds up the Bible, and then, he lies. I think it’s very inappropriate,” Trump said on a CNN town hall with presidential candidates. He would use similar phrasing at his rallies to describe the Texas senator.
The president offered a different message in the lead-up to the 2018 midterms. Trump hit the campaign trail in Texas for Cruz’s reelection, calling him “Beautiful Ted” to reporters and saying that everything was behind them, now that the GOP needed to defeat his Democrat challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas.
Enter the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and their “Fire Lyin’ Ted Cruz” ad: 30 seconds of nothing but Trump’s own words admonishing Cruz for lying and accepting money from lobbyist groups. At one point in the ad, Trump calls Cruz the “most dishonest guy I think I’ve ever met in politics.”
“Our ad is designed to remind Trump voters exactly what Donald Trump really thinks of Ted Cruz — he’s a liar who’s bought and paid for by special interests,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Change Campaign Super PAC. “With polls tightening, Beto O’Rourke is inspiring Republican, independent, and Democratic voters across Texas and driving turn out in numbers Texas hasn’t seen in decades. Trump voters are the only chance Cruz has to keep his seat — and they won’t be a sure vote after hearing Trump himself calling out Cruz’s dishonesty.”
The PCCC claims the ad has been seen by over a million people.
