Updated at 9:38 p.m. with Cruz saying he supports Abbott for reelection in 2022.
Asked about rumors he’s endorsing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the 2022 Republican primary, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told the crowd at a town hall event Wednesday evening in Grapevine that he wholeheartedly backs the incumbent.
“If not for Greg Abbott I would not be in the U.S. Senate,” said Cruz, who became the state’s solicitor general in 2003 after being appointed by then-Attorney General Abbott. “I understand there are a lot of folks who have concerns about a lot of what Greg Abbott’s done … but as for me, I’m going to vote for Greg Abbott.”
“I’d be a disloyal jackass if I didn’t vote for him given two decades of working side by side,” Cruz added.
Abbott cruised through the 2018 gubernatorial primary without major opposition but already is facing a spirited challenge from former state Sen. Don Huffines in the 2022 primary. Huffines, who had some vocal supporters in Wednesday night’s audience, has criticized Abbott’s response to the pandemic, arguing that he should have opened the state sooner.
Former state GOP chairman Allen West is another high-profile opponent.
Abbott endorsed Cruz for president in the 2016 Republican primary, a race the senator lost to Donald Trump.
His remarks came at an event hosted by True Texas Project, a tea party group out of Tarrant County that has been linked to extreme right-wing messaging and has long supported Cruz. The group has been vocal about its opposition to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection bid.
“We favor anyone but Abbott,” said moderator Fran Rhodes, president of the True Texas Project.
After Cruz’ strong words of support for the governor, however, she conceded “we all believe in freedom of choice.”
Cruz also told the crowd of tea party conservatives that while he believed in vaccines, he believed in medical freedom more — and that means no mandates.
“My view on this – I think COVID-19 is a serious disease, particularly for vulnerable populations,” Cruz said, adding that he and his wife Heidi had both gotten the vaccine and that “I believe in vaccines.”
As some in the crowd booed, Cruz quickly shifted to a more conciliatory approach with his audience by assuring them he’s with them on opposing vaccine mandates. “The beauty of it is, you and I don’t have to agree” on every single aspect of pandemic response, he said.
Cruz highlighted a Senate bill he introduced earlier this month that would ban both mask and vaccination mandates, as well as impose civil penalties for “violating a patient’s right” by vaccinating against COVID-19 without consent.
He had a monthlong argument with his father, 82-year-old pastor Rafael Cruz, on the latter’s hesitancy around the vaccine, Cruz said. Cruz Sr. ultimately decided to take the vaccine.
“When it comes to fighting this fight, there is no one in the U.S. Senate who is fighting harder against these mandates,” he said.
The “most indefensible” policy local officials made was shutting down schools, he said, painting a picture of children losing a year of school. Currently, school officials are embroiled in a battle of wills against Abbott, arguing that they need the authority of a mandate to protect thousands of Texas schoolchildren.
Employers should also be banned from forcing a mask mandate, Cruz said, pointing to Houston Methodist Hospital, which became the first hospital in the nation to require their employees to have the COVID-19 vaccine.
In line with his previous rhetoric, Cruz took aim at big tech and reiterated criticism of the Biden administration’s response to the scrambled withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He also fielded a question about treatment of jailed Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
“If you criminally assault a police officer, you should be prosecuted and you should go to jail for a very long time,” Cruz said — right after the crowd had ostensibly cheered for the protesters. “I think it’s right and good they are being prosecuted.”
But, he added, some of the people there were “peaceful protesters” and that the Biden-led Justice Department was committing an “abuse of power” in holding some rioters.
The crowd pushed back, with some shouting disagreement.
The solution, Cruz said, was to win elections in 2022.
“I hurt for our country and the policies we’re enduring. But part of me, I quietly celebrate,” Cruz said. “I’ll tell you right now, I believe people are waking up all over this country and 2022 is going to be a fantastic election.”
