WASHINGTON—Texas Sen. Ted Cruz enters Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate with a burst of momentum, a robust campaign infrastructure, and a target on his back.
It’s a shift for Cruz, whose campaign got off to a low-key start. Now, he’s challenging Donald Trump for the lead in the kickoff Iowa caucus and casting himself as a more electable alternative who still shares the bombastic billionaire’s anti-Washington appeal.
Trump and Cruz have been friendly on the campaign trail for months. But signs of a split have emerged in recent days, with Cruz appearing to question Trump’s judgment at a private fundraiser, according to audio obtained by The New York Times, and Trump calling Cruz “a little bit of a maniac.”
“Looks like @tedcruz is getting ready to attack,” Trump wrote on Twitter last week. “I am leading by so much he must. I hope so, he will fall like all others. Will be easy!”
Trump didn’t go after Cruz by name during a Las Vegas rally on the eve of the debate, but said the primetime faceoff could turn messy.
“I am giving them a chance for them to making total fools of themselves in front of millions of people,” Trump said, adding that he’s expecting to be attacked. “This will not be like an evening in paradise for me. Do we agree?” he asked.
Another intriguing dynamic in Tuesday’s prime-time debate in Las Vegas involves Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another first-term senator and Cuban-American.
Cruz and Rubio have been sparring from afar for weeks, particularly over national security, which is now a top campaign issue following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. Rubio has tried to brand Cruz as an isolationist and has criticized his support for ending the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, saying it weakens the government’s ability to identify potential terrorists.
“There are some differences in policy,” Rubio said of Cruz in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. “I think we need to be the national security party, the party of strong national security, committed to ensuring we have the strongest military force in the world.”
More broadly, Rubio’s campaign is eager to cast Cruz, who prides himself on being a conservative “truth-teller,” as a politically expedient flip-flopper who is willing to say whatever is necessary to win an election. Rubio’s campaign has raised questions about the consistency of Cruz’s positions on sending troops to the Middle East, as well as what they consider ambiguous answers he gives on whether he would allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to stay here.
Cruz’s campaign has dismissed Rubio’s criticism, with spokesman Rick Tyler saying, “Nobody believes Senator Cruz is weak on national defense and security.”
Tuesday’s debate will be the first for Republicans in more than a month, and also the first since the attacks in France and California. The four previous GOP debates had record viewership, giving the candidates an unparalleled platform to reach voters.
