Ted Cruz faces mixed reception on his 2028 plans at RNC convention

DALLAS — Sen. Ted Cruz‘s (R-TX) potential 2028 presidential campaign is facing a lack of enthusiasm among attendees of the Republican National Committee‘s midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.Cruz was met with cheers and applause while addressing the convention, especially when he cast the 2026 midterms as “a rendezvous with destiny” for the United States.“We are witnessing a new and dangerous red-green alliance: communists and Islamists coming together and sweeping over the Democrat Party,” Cruz told an energized audience. “They are united because they share the same enemies. They hate Christians. They hate Jews. They hate capitalism. They hate the Constitution, and they hate America.” Yet, despite the strong performance, attendees at the convention told the Washington Examiner that Cruz still has much work to do to convince GOP voters that he can best carry President Donald Trump‘s MAGA mantle.Richard Van Winkle, 69, a lawyer from Flower Mound, Texas, didn’t appear to have much knowledge about Cruz’s tenure, despite Cruz being a 13-year veteran of the Senate.“I haven’t given any thought, really,” Van Winkle said on a potential 2028 Cruz run. “I just don’t follow much, Ted Cruz. Anyway, I know his dad. His dad’s a minister.”Van Winkle also said that Cruz “wouldn’t make a good president in my eyes” and that he wouldn’t vote for him as a presidential candidate.“I’m not too impressed with Ted Cruz,” Conswello Davis, 55, of Tennessee, also told the Washington Examiner. “Because some of the things that I think he has said and done in the past, I just do not agree with, as far as like being an immigrant, and … speaking out of turn for Americans.”Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada, but his mother is an American citizen born in Delaware, automatically making Cruz a citizen as well. During the 2016 primary, Cruz finished in second place behind Trump. Yet a decade later, it’s unclear whether he still has the muscle to succeed against Vance.Before this week’s convention, Cruz had begun publicly hinting that a 2028 presidential run could be in his future.Republicans largely agree that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are the current GOP frontrunners to succeed Trump. Even Rubio appears to be making way for the vice president to dominate in 2028.Florida delegate and chairman of Okaloosa County GOP Doug Stauffer, 67, said that Vance, Rubio, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are his front-runners for president despite his past support for Cruz.“I campaigned for him years ago, but the three I mentioned, to me, are the frontrunners,” Stauffer said of Cruz. “And I know I’m in Texas, so I guess I ought to give a little kudos to him, too. But I know he and his dad and all of that, and when I was involved, I think I was up in Tennessee at the time, living there.”Other Republicans were ready to pick Cruz over Vance and vice versa.“I like Ted Cruz a lot,” said Rep. John McGuire (R-VA). “I like them all, so I don’t know. I’ve been waiting to see what the battlefield looks like.”Trump has not officially endorsed in the race. Notably, he is allowing Vance to be the keynote speaker on the final night of the convention and has only given brief remarks on Thursday night. The president also refused to criticize Cruz’s public overtures to run for the White House.But Cruz’s public posturing has clearly rankled some Republicans backing Vance as the presumptive 2028 nominee.A person familiar noted to the Washington Examiner that the fundraising link Cruz touted Wednesday night during an interview with Sean Hannity, ostensibly pushing donations to Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign, defaulted 20% of “quick-click” donations to Cruz’s own political operation. Donors were not alerted, nor could they alter the automatic allocation without clicking through the fine-print terms and conditions.JD VANCE FACES BIG PRIMETIME MOMENT AT GOP MIDTERM CONVENTION AS TED CRUZ WAITS IN THE WINGSFurther worrying for a Cruz 2028 run is that even Republicans who are not at the convention cast doubt on Cruz’s ambitions. Earlier in the summer, evangelicals at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority Conference also cast doubt that Cruz could mount a serious challenge against Vance.“I think it’s extraordinarily clear. Sen. Ted Cruz represents the past as it relates to the Republican Party,” said Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV). “And JD Vance is the future. And I think JD Vance is going to be the next president of the United States.”