• Sen. Ted Cruz is positioning himself as a traditional conservative alternative ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign, distancing from Trump policies.
• Cruz faced backlash in July when he vacationed in Greece 24 hours after deadly Texas floods killed over 100 people, echoing his 2021 Cancun controversy.
• The Texas senator shocked Republicans by condemning the FCC chair’s pressure on ABC over Jimmy Kimmel, calling the threats “dangerous as hell.”

Sen. Ted Cruz appears to be laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid by carving out distinct positions from President Donald Trump and his administration, according to Republican strategists. The Texas senator’s recent moves suggest he’s positioning himself as the defender of traditional conservatism in what could become a crowded Republican primary.

“I think he’s carving out a position for himself as the defender of traditional conservatism,” Vin Weber, a Republican strategist, told The Hill. “He’s a viable contender for president because he’s a brilliant conservative and he represents the largest Republican state.”

Cruz, who finished as runner-up to Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, has begun distinguishing himself on key policy issues including tariffs, foreign policy, and government overreach. His most notable break came when he called Trump’s tariff policies the “biggest tax increase we have seen in a long, long time” and warned they could “hurt jobs and hurt America.”

Vacation controversy haunts Cruz again

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In July, Cruz faced intense criticism when he was photographed at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, approximately 24 hours after catastrophic flooding in Texas killed more than 100 people, including 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic. The incident drew immediate comparisons to his 2021 trip to Cancun during a winter storm that left millions of Texans without power.

A tourist who spotted Cruz at the ancient Greek site confronted him, saying “20 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation?” Cruz’s office insisted he was on a pre-planned family trip and booked the earliest available flight home, arriving in Texas late Sunday night. However, the optics of touring tourist attractions while emergency workers searched floodwaters for missing children damaged his image among constituents.

“He was already in the middle of preplanned family vacation travel overseas when the flooding occurred,” a spokesperson said, noting Cruz spoke with Gov. Greg Abbott and Trump within hours to coordinate federal resources.

Breaking with Trump on free speech

Cruz’s most significant break from the Trump administration came in September when he condemned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for threatening to revoke ABC’s broadcast license over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

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When Carr warned ABC that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way” regarding potential action against Kimmel, Cruz compared the rhetoric to mob tactics. “That’s right out of ‘Goodfellas,'” Cruz said on his podcast. “That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.'”

“I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying,” Cruz declared.

Cruz’s stance was particularly notable given that he chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight authority over the FCC. His criticism stood in stark contrast to most Republicans who sided with the Trump administration’s position. When Trump defended Carr as a “great American patriot,” the president explicitly said, “I disagree with Ted Cruz on that.”

The 2028 calculation

Republican strategists believe Cruz is strategically positioning himself for what could be a competitive 2028 primary against Vice President JD Vance, who is widely viewed as Trump’s heir apparent. Cruz’s best opportunity may emerge if Trump’s economic policies, particularly tariffs, prove unpopular with voters.

Cruz has been building infrastructure for a potential run, including hosting a donor retreat, maintaining a top-ranked podcast and syndicated radio show, and developing a formidable small-dollar fundraising network. Recent polling shows 29% of Republicans would consider voting for Cruz in a 2028 primary, placing him fifth behind Vance, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump Jr., and Marco Rubio.

However, some strategists warn that positioning against MAGA could backfire. “If Sen. Cruz positions himself as the anti-MAGA candidate in 2028, he wouldn’t just lose; he’d diminish his own stature within the Republican Party,” cautioned one GOP analyst.

Can Cruz successfully navigate the delicate balance between distinguishing himself from Trump while maintaining support from the MAGA base?

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