00:00Comments Cruz made during meetings with donors released
00:03Leaked audio reveals Senator Ted Cruz sharply criticizing Donald Trump
00:08and Vice President J.D. Vance during private donor calls last year.
00:12In recordings obtained by Axios, Cruz warned Trump's tariff policies
00:16could trigger economic collapse and political backlash
00:19and suggested Vance was overly influenced by Tucker Carlson.
00:23He also recounted urging Trump to reconsider sweeping tax hikes.
00:27Mr. President, if we get to November of 2026 and people's 401ks are down 30%
00:34and prices are up 10-20% at the supermarket, we're going to go into Election Day.
00:39Face a bloodbath, Cruz allegedly said.
00:43The response from Trump? A blunt and furious. F you, Ted.
00:47Despite this, Cruz's office is now playing damage control.
00:51While not denying the recording's authenticity, they insisted the Texas senator
00:55battles every day in the trenches to advance Trump's agenda.
00:59The leak couldn't come at a more sensitive time.
01:03Cruz is widely expected to launch another presidential campaign in 2028
01:07and sees himself as a traditional conservative alternative to the Trump-Vance brand.
01:12But standing in his way is Vice President J.D. Vance,
01:15Trump's hand-picked successor,
01:17who prediction markets like Kalshi currently show as the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
01:23Vance didn't escape unscathed in Cruz's donor rants.
01:26According to Axios, Cruz ridiculed Vance as a pawn of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
01:33Tucker created J.D., Cruz reportedly said.
01:36J.D. is Tucker's protege, and they are one and the same.
01:40The feud appears to go back to Cruz's public spat with Carlson over U.S. military action in Iran.
01:45Cruz, a vocal supporter of intervention, accused Carlson and Vance of orchestrating the ouster
01:51of former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz after Waltz pushed for strikes on Iranian targets.
01:57During the 2016 GOP primary, Trump branded Cruz Lion Ted and even mocked his wife, Heidi.
02:04But Cruz eventually fell in line, backing Trump in the 2020s and campaigning for him in 2024.
02:11These latest leaks, however, reveal a much deeper rift,
02:14one that could shape the battle lines in the post-Trump Republican Party.
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