Hollis, N.H. – Yes, you read that right. According to Ted Cruz, the so-called Republican establishment is abandoning Florida senator Marco Rubio and uniting behind real-estate mogul Donald Trump. Cruz has long said the Republican primary would come down to two candidates, one a conservative, the other an establishment moderate. Now that Cruz and Trump are leading the polls, he’s trying his hardest to paint Trump as the latter.


“We’re seeing something remarkable happening in this Republican primary,” the Texas senator told reporters on Wednesday. “Right now, the Washington establishment is abandoning Marco Rubio, they’ve made the assessment that Marco can’t win this race, and the Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump. We’re seeing that happen every day, and Mr. Trump is welcoming that support.”

Cruz and Trump have been trading barbs since last week’s Republican debate in Charleston, and Cruz’s latest broadside is in part a response to Trump’s claim that Cruz is incapable of getting along with his colleagues and, if elected, he’ll be unable to cut the sorts of deals with Congress essential to governance.

“Well,” Cruz said, “I don’t think there are a whole lot of Republicans who think the problem with Republican leadership is that they’re unwilling to make deals with Democrats … and Mr. Trump’s pitch to the Washington establishment is he’s a dealmaker. He’ll go and cut a deal with Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and those deals will do exactly what John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have done, continue the failed big-government policies of this administration, continue the cronyism, continue the corporate welfare, continue Washington picking winners and losers.”


So much for Ted Cruz and his friend Donald.