Ted Cruz may be out of the Presidential race, but he’s not giving up on his ambition to achieve the highest office in the land.
According to reports, Cruz attended a dinner Tuesday night with “more than 20 top conservatives,” at the home of Brent Bozell, the head of the conservative media research center. In attendance were the heads of most major conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth, Leadership Institute and the Susan B. Anthony list, as well as board members of the NRA.
The dinner apparently served two purposes: one, to discuss how conservatives plan to keep their movement alive in the age of Donald Trump, whose policy ideas are often in conflict with Cruz’s; and two, how best to make Cruz an appealing presidential option in 2020, regardless of who manages to win the presidency in 2016 (they also ragged on Sen. Mitch McConnell, but that wasn’t on the official agenda).
Bozell insisted that the meeting wasn’t a dig at Donald Trump— “It wasn’t a function of ignoring [Trump] or he wasn’t worth our time. … You’ve got the Never Trump and you’ve got people who are for Trump in that room,” he said—but to help groom Cruz for his inevitable glorious comeback. Bozell did not comment to media on whether Republicans, who voted overwhelming for Donald Trump over the Texas senator, felt as nostalgic.
The meeting will send a message to Trump, though, especially as it comes on the heels of the “Better for America” official launch—a “Never Trump” and “Never Hillary” effort trying to build a bipartisan groundswell for a third party candidate. Republicans are planning for a future that without—or apart from—the Donald.
