President Donald Trump announced that he will stump for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Former foes teaming up as Cruz senses seat heat

AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump says he will ride to the rescue of onetime bitter rival Sen. Ted Cruz this fall, the strongest indication yet that the Texas conservative firebrand is getting nervous about his challenger, a liberal darling with a growing national profile.

Trump tweeted Friday that he will headline “a major rally” for Cruz in October and is “picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find.” He added, “Ted has my complete and total Endorsement,” and called Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke “a disaster for Texas — weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!”

The tweet of support was a long way from Trump’s previous assessment of Cruz’s record. He once declared the senator “has accomplished absolutely nothing” for Texans. Cruz has labeled Trump “a sniveling coward.”

But the promise of presidential assistance suggested that Cruz is feeling the heat. Trump has long planned to travel to bolster Republican candidates before November’s midterm elections, but he was not expected to spend valuable time in reliably red Texas for a race that for months looked like a Cruz cakewalk.

“Either Ted Cruz is in trouble or it’s a remarkable waste of the president’s resources,” said Republican strategist Rick Tyler, who worked for Cruz’s presidential campaign.

The Texas Senate seat, Tyler noted, was supposed to be the GOP’s “safest seat this cycle.”

Those close to Cruz’s campaign report that internal polling shows O’Rourke trailing by just 5 or 6 percentage points, which is in line with recent public polls.

Ronald W. Erdrich The Associated Press U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz gets a laugh after joking about the Democratic Party during a campaign stop Thursday in Abilene, Texas.