Ted Cruz won't deny he's being considered for Attorney General: Senator vows to work with Trump in 'whatever capacity I can' and blasts 'idiots' protesting the election results
- Texas senator Ted Cruz made his first appearance on Fox News since May
- The former Trump rival who refused to endorse at the GOP convention called the election a 'powerful mandate for change'
- Said it was time to 'put up or shut up' with complete GOP control of government
- Cruz said he met with Trump and his team for hours, and didn't rule out serving in the administration
- Defended chaotic transition as like 'drinking from a fire hose'
- Even uses Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican convention only to fall in line later, hailed the 'powerful mandate for change' of his former rival's election.
Cruz vowed to push through an Obamacare repeal and get conservative justices on the Supreme Court – and wouldn't directly answer questions about whether he might serve a role inside the administration. He has been mentioned as a possible pick to be Attorney General.
'I have an incredible job right now representing 27 million Texans. I'm incredibly honored to hold that job, and it's a job I take very, very seriously,' Cruz told 'Fox and Friends.'
He continued: 'I'm eager to work with the new president [in] whatever capacity I can have the greatest impact defending the principles that I was elected to defend – defending the principles of freedom, defending the Constitution.'
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is hailing Donald Trump's mandate, and isn't ruling out serving in his administration
Cruz, who ran his own campaign as a crusade for GOP principles and bashing those who run as conservatives only to retreat once they gain office, indicated expectations are high.
'When the voters give Republicans control of the White House, control of every executive branch … we've gotta deliver. It is time to put up or shut up,' he said.
Even as Democrats dispute the mandate of the election, citing Hillary Clinton's lead in the overall popular vote, Cruz said: 'This election was a powerful mandate for change.'
Although he infuriated Trump supporters by refusing to endorse Trump during his speech at the GOP convention, Cruz didn't allow any daylight between himself and Trump, even using his campaign slogan.
'President-elect Trump campaigned on making America great again. That is something I think the voters desperately want to see come to pass, to see happen, and I think the President-elect is very serious about making it happen.'
Trump famously during the primaries said Cruz's father, Rafael, was linked to the JFK assassination, and retweeted an unflattering photograph of Heidi Cruz that compared her to his own former model wife.
Trump made his comments on 'Fox and Friends,' his first appearance on the network since May
Cruz failed to formally endorse Trump during his speech at the GOP convention in Cleveland
In the Capitol, Cruz can help either forward or stall elements of Trump's agenda or his court picks
Cruz blasted the 'hypocrisy' of Democrats who had raised alarms when Trump wouldn't say in advance that he would accept the election results, only to protest Trump's election.
'These are now the idiots that are protesting in the street and laying their bodies down in front of cars and disrupting traffic,' Cruz said.
He also took characteristic shots at Democrats, amid indications the party might tilt leftward in some leadership positions after its stunning loss.
Cruz called it a 'bizarre spiral of getting nuttier and nuttier.'
'They've got to get even more whacked out and disconnected from the American people,' he said.
The praise for president-elect Trump, while in keeping with a change among Republicans across-the-board, is nevertheless a striking departure from how Cruz described his rival in the heat of the primaries.
In an epic takedown amid the fury of the campaign, Cruz said of Trump: 'This man is a pathological liar, he doesn't know the difference between truth and lies ... in a pattern that is straight out of a psychology text book, he accuses everyone of lying.'
'Whatever lie he's telling, at that minute he believes it ... the man is utterly amoral,' Cruz continued on the eve as Indiana voters were casting ballots. 'Donald is a bully ... bullies don't come from strength they come from weakness.'
If he stays in the Senate, Cruz has a powerful platform to advance or stall elements of the Trump agenda. He also could face a primary in 2018. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a potential candidate, is being floated as a potential Energy Department secretary in Washington.
He also is thought to have potential ambitions to run for president again, and has been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court pick.
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