Ted Cruz 'clearly doesn't want to be a senator anymore' -- so he's using a book tour to launch 2024 campaign: columnist

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) seems to be using his book tour to soft launch a 2024 presidential campaign

The Texas Republican is traveling the country to promote his new book, "Justice Corrupted," and a slate of GOP candidates, peppering his speeches with tired wisecracks about Nancy Pelosi, Hunter Biden and private jets -- which he's taking himself from New York City, where he took in a Yankees game and appeared on "The View," to a rally in Virginia, reported The Bulwark.

"The two things that bother me are Cruz making it appear to voters that he’s on a real bus tour, barnstorming for candidates, when the bus is more a symbol than a real touring vehicle," wrote columnist Jim Swift. "And his hypocrisy in going after others for taking private jets when he enjoys a good private jet himself now and then."

Cruz "clearly does not want to be a senator anymore," Swift wrote, but a twice-impeached former president stands in his way.

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"The Cruz-aligned Truth and Courage PAC has been putting on events for the Texas senator throughout the country, driving a decked-out, two-story bus on which fans can write whatever they want," Swift wrote. "On the surface, the goal is to help try to elect Republicans and take back Congress. In reality, though, the tour is Cruz’s shadow campaign for the presidency in 2024 — aimed at boosting the his profile among the Republican base, having various officeholders owe him favors, and getting everything ready for the possibility, however remote, that Donald Trump won’t run again and Cruz can try to snatch the nomination."

"Cruz’s 2016 campaign logo of a flame is cleverly incorporated into a new logo on the side of the bus, the face of a lion that looks vaguely like the bearded Cruz," Swift added. "But 'Truth and Courage' hardly seem like the right words to describe a guy who spent four years abasing himself to stay relevant after Donald Trump lied about his loved ones."

All the Republicans who took part in that Virginia rally -- Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Rafael Cruz, the senator's father -- strenuously avoided discussing the GOP's undisputed leader and the most likely nominee for the next presidential campaign.

"One thing I didn’t hear — in person or in the videos, or anywhere in the transcript of Monday night’s rally — was any mention of Donald Trump," Swift wrote. "As best as I can tell, no one at the Virginia rally, not a single speaker, uttered the former president’s name. Not even once. But he remains the most important figure in the Republican party, and if he decides to run again for the presidency then Cruz will presumably be in for four more years of subservient abasement. There’s no getting away from that fact, whether you try to escape by bus or plane."

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