During the 2016 race for the GOP presidential nomination, Donald Trump let loose a series of devastating tweets against his main rival, Senator Ted Cruz.
Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplished absolutely nothing for them. He is another all talk, no action pol!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2016
The reason lyin' Ted Cruz has lost so much of the evangelical vote is that they are very smart and just don't tolerate liars-a big problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2016
Lyin'Ted Cruz is weak & losing big, so now he wants to debate again. But, according to Drudge,Time and on-line polls, I have won all debates
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016
Can you believe that Ted Cruz, who has been killing our country on trade for so long, just put out a Wisconsin ad talking about trade?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2016
Wow, Lyin' Ted Cruz really went wacko today. Made all sorts of crazy charges. Can't function under pressure – not very presidential. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2016
Democrats are ready to take advantage of this, fundraising to drive a mobile billboard all over Texas with Trump’s insults from 2016. The Hill reports:
A GoFundMe page organized by USA Latinx, a political group focused on supporting Latinx candidates, topped its $6,000 fundraising goal, raising nearly $10,000 in less than 24 hours.
Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor and gun control advocate David Hogg and Claude Taylor, the chairman of the liberal Mad Dog PAC, helped promote the effort on social media.
“President Donald Trump will be campaigning to help Sen. Ted Cruz win his re-election,” the page reads. “A rally is being planned, according to Trump ‘at the biggest stadium in Texas.’ We are planning to display the presidents own words about Cruz from 2016 on a mobile billboard, to remind Texans of the truth.”
The proposed sign will feature a February 2016 tweet from Trump criticizing Cruz as an “all talk, no action” politician.
“Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplished absolutely nothing for them,” Trump’s tweet reads. “He is another all talk, no action pol!”
Trump, two years after a fierce presidential primary battle with Cruz, has committed to campaigning for the senator in his tougher-than-anticipated Senate race against Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas).
David Hogg tries to play grown-up politics and ends up looking like a high school kid running for class president.
Yes, Trump’s insults were vicious and weird, threatening to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife and saying that the senator’s father was involved in the JFK assassination. But as a club the opposition wants to use against Cruz, it’s pathetic.
A “mobile billboard”? Who’s going to see it? The stories about creating the billboard will be seen by more people than the billboard itself.
Besides, as political media, billboards are close to the bottom in effectiveness — perhaps above match covers and coffee mugs.
As far as the content of the tweets hurting Cruz, forget it. Most voters are sophisticated enough to know how the game is played. While Trump’s tweets may have been over the top, voters understand what politicians do to get elected. Trump’s apparent about-face in supporting Cruz for re-election isn’t raising any eyebrows outside of some delusional Democrats.
Cruz’s opponent, Beto O’Rourke, is currently within a point or two of the senator, but we’re still 60 days out from the election. I fully expect Cruz to win this race by at least 5 points as Republicans in Texas “come home” to support him.
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