Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) sparred with one another in television appearances this week, each saying that former President Trump “broke” the other.
Cruz appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Tuesday and said the Wyoming representative had “Trump derangement syndrome.”
“[I] think she falls into the category of people who Donald Trump just broke, just shattered,” Cruz said, according to Yahoo News.
“She hates Donald Trump so much that it just has overridden everything in her system. She’s lashing out at Trump and Republicans and everything, and she’s become a Democrat, and it’s sad to watch what has happened,” he added.
Cheney later responded, saying that Cruz was “desperate for political approval.”
“Trump broke Ted Cruz,” Cheney said in a clip aired on CNN. “A real man would be defending his wife, and his father and the Constitution.”
Trump made a series of personal attacks on Cruz’s family during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, suggesting that Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and posting an unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, on Twitter, alongside modeling photo of Melania Trump, writing: “No need to ‘spill the beans.’ The images are worth a thousand words.”
Cruz responded at the time: “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward, and leave Heidi the hell alone.”
However, after exiting the 2016 presidential primary, Cruz became a staunch defender of Trump during his time in the White House.
Cheney has faced mounting criticism from her party after she voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Wyoming Republican Party voted last week to no longer recognize her as a member of the GOP. In February, the same group voted to censure Cheney.
The representative will now face at least four Republican opponents in the 2022 primary election. One of her opponents, Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman, has received Trump’s endorsement.
The Hill has reached out to Cruz and Cheney for comment.