“President Trump is a unique historical figure. I’m going to say right now, there is no Donald Trump on the horizon to succeed [him],” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during his recent appearance on the “Pod Force One” podcast hosted by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.
According to the outlet, the senator still has White House ambitions. He ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries but sat out the 2024 primaries. Now, with Trump hitting term limits in 2028 (even though Trump has hinted at trying for another term), people are already thinking about the next presidential primary season.
Polls have routinely shown that Vice President JD Vance is the GOP presidential candidate frontrunner so far. Secretary of State Marco Rubio beat out Vance in a few polls, per Race to the White House’s poll tracker. Rubio often comes in second, while Donald Trump Jr. and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis often rank in third place.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Cruz was “taking some digs” at Vance. The Daily Beast also positioned his comments on “Pod Force One” as a swipe at Vance’s place as frontrunner.
“I think we are going to have a full and vigorous primary and discussion,” Cruz told Devine. He said he expects a full-fledged and competitive primary process and added that “no one’s going to step into Trump’s shoes.”
However, Cruz – whose term as senator is up in 2031 – is focused on the midterms right now.
“There will be plenty of time to have these conversations,” he said. “We are less than two months out from the midterm election. This is the most consequential midterm I’ve ever seen in my life.”
As we head into the midterm elections in November, Trump’s approval ratings have been falling and Democrats are expected to pick up seats in Congress. Democrats are even expected to flip the House of Representatives, according to 270 to Win, which would break the GOP’s hold on both chambers in addition to the White House.
“The post-Labor Day period has seen the Democrats generally doing well in surveys,” said the Center for Politics this week. “The most-watched one was the New York Times/Siena University House generic ballot poll released Tuesday morning: Democrats were up 8.5 points. Polling averages of the generic ballot have recently hit their biggest Democratic edges of the cycle: RealClearPolitics, the Silver Bulletin, and FiftyPlusOne all show a Democratic lead in the 7-9 point range.”
Affordability has emerged as a top priority for midterm voters as national average gas prices keep shooting higher above the $4 mark. That’s due in part to Trump’s unpopular decision to attack Iran that then led to blockades of the Strait of Hormuz.
Cruz said he expects the GOP hopefuls to present different options on both foreign policy and economics.
“Economically, are we a small government, free market conservative party? Or are we a big government nanny state party?” he said. Regarding foreign policy, Cruz thinks the question will be: “Are we an isolationist party? Do we want to just withdraw from the world? Or do we believe in American leadership in the world?”
