President Donald Trump has floated a surprising candidate for the next Supreme Court vacancy: Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. But the president’s explanation for why Cruz would sail through Senate confirmation turned the proposal into a public roast.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 27, Trump joked that nominating Cruz would solve the problem of getting both parties to agree on a Supreme Court pick. His reasoning? Democrats and Republicans alike would be thrilled to get rid of the senator.
“I said, ‘I have an answer to not being able to get it past the Democrats or the Republicans together,’” Trump told the crowd, referring to the challenge of winning Senate confirmation.
“I would pick Ted Cruz to be the next Supreme Court justice, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it. I wouldn’t have to make a phone call.”
Then came the punchline.
“The Democrats will 100% vote for it because they hate the guy and they want to get rid of him,” Trump said. “And the Republicans would 100% vote for it because they can’t stand him, they would like to get rid of him.”
Trump wrapped up the joke by claiming he would receive unanimous support for the nomination.
“So I’d get 100% of the vote, and he would be a Supreme Court justice and he’d do a great job,” the president said.
Cruz, who was sitting in the front row at the rally supporting Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, laughed and smiled as Trump delivered the remarks.
The Texas senator might not be eager to take Trump up on the idea. Cruz has repeatedly said he has no interest in becoming a judge.
“I don’t want to be a judge,” Cruz told reporters in September, according to The USA Today.
Still, Cruz has the legal credentials for a potential Supreme Court appointment. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist and served as Texas solicitor general from 2008 to 2013, arguing multiple cases before the high court.
Trump described Cruz as “a brilliant guy, brilliant lawyer, brilliant all that” before turning the nomination into a joke about how unpopular the senator supposedly is among his colleagues.
The remarks also come as Trump has publicly expressed regret over his three Supreme Court nominees from his first term: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The president has criticized the justices after they ruled against his administration in several high-profile cases.
Cruz, 55, has become one of Trump’s strongest allies in the Senate, despite their bitter rivalry during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
But the senator has also shown interest in running for president in 2028. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the other Trump allies viewed as potential Republican contenders.
If Cruz were nominated to the Supreme Court, accepted the position and won confirmation, he would leave the Senate and abandon any presidential ambitions.
For now, however, Trump’s remarks amount to a hypothetical scenario rather than a formal nomination. It remains unclear whether the president will get another opportunity to appoint a justice.
Justice Samuel Alito said in August that he planned to remain on the bench through at least the next court session, pushing back against speculation that he might retire and allow Trump to select his replacement.
For Cruz, the Lubbock rally offered an unusual combination of praise and public ridicule: Trump called him a brilliant lawyer while saying that the Senate could unanimously approve his departure because lawmakers from both parties would be happy to see him go.
Watch the clip below:
