A Tale of Two Trumps: Why Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are Functionally the Same
by Wesley Walker
In the wake of Donald Trump’s shocking primary success and the winnowing of the primary field, Texas senator Ted Cruz has, perhaps more shockingly, emerged as the “establishment” candidate. This strange turn of events got even stranger last Thursday when former presidential candidate and senator from South Caroline Lindsey Graham endorsed Cruz after previously joking that if someone killed Cruz and the trial was done in the senate, they would be let off scot free.
On some level, the knee jerk reaction to back Cruz in the face of Donald Trump’s rise is understandable. At least Cruz has served in the United States senate and he hasn’t explicitly said as many bigoted things as Trump.
Still, it raises the question, “What is to be gained from a Cruz candidacy?”
He is certainly not a viable candidate for the general election. In the state of Ohio, PPP has him losing to Hillary Clinton in a general election by 5 points. Another recent poll has him barely pulling off Ohio while losing by 5 points in Florida to Clinton (he’d lose by 7 if it was Sanders), and 11 points to her in Illinois. All this is before he has had the real center stage, in which voters from moderate and independent backgrounds will continue to find him even more unlikeable. This trouble could be compounded if Clinton, assuming she gets the nomination, begins to go towards the center.
But maybe establishment GOP candidates are aware of this. Maybe their goal isn’t winning the election, it is probably too late for that anyways. Maybe it is about saving the brand of the GOP from being eviscerated by Donald Trump. The problem is they risk becoming what they were trying to stop. Besides some minor nuances, they are remarkably similar and would be detrimental to the future of the Republican party as we know it.
First of all, they’re both vapid narcissists. Trump is more obvious about it and that provides Cruz some cover but if he gets put under the spotlight, it’ll surely come out. According to Curt Anderson, a Republican consultant, Ted Cruz is “a perpetual martyr.” In fact, his legislative accomplishments are thin. Anderson notes he has failed to defund Planned Parenthood, repeal Obamacare, stop the Iran deal, etc. Not only that, but at least in the Obamacare standoff, he continued to obstruct to the point of a government shutdown, an act most Americans were against. For Cruz, it made sense because it fed the martyrdom narrative and allowed him to play the “victim card” (something he’s also done in an attempt to lend credibility to his blatant shunning of professional scientists on the issue of climate change).
Secondly, Ted Cruz is just as, if not more so, anti-immigration than Trump. Trump at least flip-flopped to supper H1-B visas (for skilled workers). The ability to employ skilled workers from across the globe enables companies to be more competitive on a globalized playing field. He has also been open to the idea of a long term freeze on immigration if the unemployment rate was too high, ignoring the fact that immigration creates an increase in both the wage force and demand, and can increase wages for workers.
Third, he is a hawk who would rely on similar tactics as Trump to deal with international problems. Take ISIS, for instance. Back in November, Trump famously said he would, “bomb the shit out of them.” While other candidates, like Gov. John Kasich have advocated for the formation of a regional coalition to solve the problem, Cruz sides more with Trump. “I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark,” Cruz vowed last December at an event hosted by FreedomWorks, “but we’re going to find out.” He has also used the term “carpet bombing” to describe his strategy.
Finally, remember when Cruz and Trump had that strange bromance? If the two really were as different as avid Cruz supporters would have us believe, they wouldn’t have gotten along. Trump doesn’t usually warm up to people who disagree with him.
In fact, Last July, Cruz stood up for Trump. He said, “I like Donald Trump. He’s bold; he’s brash. And I get that it seems the favorite sport of the American media is to encourage Republicans to attack other Republicans. I ain’t gonna do it. I’m not interested in Republican-on-Republican violence.”
The feelings were mutual. Praising Cruz, Trump said, “I like him. He likes me. He’s backed me 100 percent. Ted Cruz was out there and he really backed me very strongly, and I always respected that.” If Cruz hadn’t picked up steam, one has to wonder if his admiration for Trump would have resulted in an endorsement.
In the end, establishment Republicans are going to go with the option they think is best. At this point, it may be too late for any other option. Unfortunately, their lack of ability to rally around one of the three solid governors during the thick of the primary season and the reactionary choice of Cruz could be a monumental setback to the GOP and a huge victory for the Tea Party insurgency. Either a Trump or Cruz nomination is going to see the Republican party change to the point that it’s going to be almost unrecognizable. By supporting Cruz, those in the establishment are cannibalizing their own brand.
Wesley Walker is a disgruntled moderate Republican and a seminarian at the Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University.