Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Sunday would not say identify President Trump as either “friend” or “foe,” saying he is “the president” and has an agenda that Cruz stands behind.
“Is [Trump] your friend, is he your foe?” ABC’s Paula Faris asked Cruz. “How do you describe the relationship?”
{mosads}”He’s the president,” Cruz replied. “I work with the president in delivering on our promises.”
“What I told the president the week after the election, I said, ‘Mr. President, I want to do everything humanly possible to roll up my sleeves and lead the fight in the Senate to deliver on our promises,'” Cruz continued.
He listed what he sees as key elements of Trump’s agenda – “to cut taxes, to cut job-filing regulations, to secure the border, to confirm strong constitutionalists to the Supreme Court and the federal courts, to rebuild our military.”
“And we’ve done all of that,” he said.
Cruz and Trump went after each other ruthlessly when the two were opponents during the 2016 presidential election.
Trump nicknamed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” and at one point apparently insulted his wife’s appearance, while Cruz called Trump a “pathological liar” and a “narcissist.”
“2016 was an election unlike any other,” Cruz said on ABC, adding that he does not want to “revisit” the president’s attacks on him.
“We have a country to save,” Cruz said. “We have a state to save. And we need to put away our petty differences and stand shoulder to shoulder.”
Trump is set to rally for Cruz on Monday and has endorsed him in his tight race against Rep. Beto O’Rourke (R-Texas).
Trump on Wednesday tweeted that O’Rourke is a “flake” and “not in the same league with Ted Cruz.”
Cruz to date has sided with Trump on most issues, breaking with the president only over his administration’s controversial family separation policy.
“The right place for kids to be is with their parents,” Cruz said on ABC, responding to a question about what he would do if the policy was reinstated. “We should keep families together.”
Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Around 200 of those children have yet to be reunited.
Reports have emerged in recent weeks that the Trump administration is mulling reinstating a variation of the policy.