Ted Cruz Says Republicans 'Didn't Understand' the Cost of Living, Blames Tariffs and the Iran War, and Vows 'We Will Bring Texas Back,' Washington Examiner Reports
The Washington Examiner says the Texas senator, now the only statewide Republican left in his state, wrote that too many in politics dismissed prices, that tariffs and the war hurt, and that the party must rebuild as 'free-market conservatives.'
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has given his own account of why Republicans lost, and he puts the cost of living first, the Washington Examiner reports.
The post. Cruz shared a long post on X the evening after the election. The Examiner says he called the night an "a** kicking" for Republicans. He pointed to pre-election polls that showed the cost of living was by far the top concern for voters, and said the party did not give it enough focus.
On prices. "The top issue, cost of living, is very real," Cruz wrote. "Too many in politics dismissed it. They didn't understand." He said Republicans pointed to stock markets, record median income and record-low poverty, and that "those data are true, but they don't tell all of the story." He added: "Food is too high, gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, life is too high."
On tariffs and the war. "Tariffs have made everything too expensive, and the Iran war has dragged on too long," he said. "It should have been brief, decisive, and over. It needs to end, and we should never, under any circumstances, give the Ayatollah billions of dollars." The Examiner says he touched on the war only briefly, and that his remark about money for Tehran refers to a detail in a memorandum of understanding Vice President JD Vance negotiated with Iran.
On Texas. Cruz said he is now the only statewide elected Republican left in Texas after Democrat James Talarico won the Senate seat and Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the governor's race. "Texas is blue. That is a hard sentence to utter," he wrote. He said he would work with Democrats "when they're willing to be reasonable" and warned of "madness" ahead.
The pledge. "But hear me now: we will bring Texas back," Cruz wrote. "Texas will be red again. We have not suddenly become a bunch of tofu-eating, gun-banning, tutu-wearing pinko commie liberals." He said the party will rebuild "as a true blue-collar party, not by embracing socialism, but by being real free-market conservatives."
Why it matters here. The Examiner notes Cruz is a possible 2028 presidential candidate. His list of causes is wider than Vance's post, which put the war first, and it names tariffs, which Vance's post did not. We covered Vance's post earlier.
What we could not check. We read the Examiner's report, not Cruz's X post. Quotes here are as the Examiner prints them.