Cruz plugs book, fundraises over possible Trump arrest
— U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has said arresting former President Donald Trump would be a “gift” to the former president’s campaign — and the Texas Republican, seeking a third term in the Senate, is trying to get a piece of the action, too.
Cruz has seized on the possible arrest to make pleas for campaign cash, promote his podcast and pitch his latest book, “Justice Corrupted,” which he says predicted this moment.
“Unfortunately, I did see this coming,” Cruz said on an episode of his podcast earlier this week. “There’s an entire chapter on George Soros DAS.”
His campaign later sent a text asking supporters to “please chip in $10, $25, $50, $100, or more to help me and my Senate Republican colleagues PUSH BACK against the Radical Left’s attempts to corrupt our justice system.”
It is the latest example of how Cruz has capitalized on his relationship with his one-time political rival, to whom Cruz has remained a steadfast ally since the 2016 Republican presidential primary, when the two duked it out and Cruz lost.
And it comes as the Texas Republican — who has forgone another White House run to campaign for a third Senate term — has ramped up fundraising efforts for what many expect will be a difficult re-election fight next year.
In a statement, a Cruz spokesman said the senator’s book “takes readers through how the left has weaponized the legal system, and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s frivolous targeting of President Trump is just the latest example.”
Cruz launched his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” in 2020 as a platform to defend Trump against his first impeachment. It took off, topping the itunes PODWASHINGTON
cast charts in its first week and has since been picked up by the massive radio network iheartmedia.
Cruz's most recent public financial disclosure, in August, did not show the senator making any money off of the podcast, though the iheartmedia deal was announced in October. His staff has said he gets no financial benefit from the deal, though the senator has boasted about the station's reach, declaring iheartmedia a “monster.”
“It's got 850 stations across the country,” Cruz said.
Cruz has often used Trump, or news about the former president, to make fundraising pleas, including after the FBI raided Mar-a-lago last year and during efforts to delay the certification of President Joe Biden's election.
The Texas Republican is far from alone in using the potentially historic arrest to raise some cash. Trump's campaign, which has sent a slew of fundraising pleas, told Fox News it raised $1.5 million in three days after Trump declared over the weekend that his arrest was imminent. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has used it to sell shirts and hats.
Cruz's fundraising effort comes as he prepares to run for a third Senate term after nar
rowly defeating Democrat Beto O'rourke in 2018 in what was then the most expensive Senate race ever. O'rourke raised more than $80 million, and Cruz raised about $39 million.
Cruz has been among the largest GOP fundraisers in the Senate since. He raised $17.4 million last year, much of which he spent helping boost other Republicans in midterm battles. His Senate campaign had about $3.4 million on hand at the end of the year, according to the latest federal filings.
Cruz does not yet have an opponent in the 2024 race, but his campaign has nonetheless declared “the 2024 election season has already begun.”
“Leftist Democrats are building out their billionaire-funded campaign machines,” his campaign said in a text to supporters last month. “Make no mistake — if we wait until 2024 to start replenishing our war chest, we won't stand a chance!”