Trump shouts out Cruz at Texas event: ‘It’s hard to believe he’s in a race’

Former President Trump on Friday gave a shoutout to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), with the senator locked in a close reelection fight, during a rare campaign event in Texas.

Trump traveled to the Lone Star State to deliver remarks in Austin on immigration and to record a podcast with Joe Rogan.

"It’s hard to believe he’s in a race, because honestly, I don’t know who would want to run against him," Trump said of Cruz. "Because he’s really a great senator. He loves the country. He’s tough as hell. He’s always fighting.

"I just want to say, he’s got my complete and total endorsement … and you're going to have a great day, and hopefully I’m going to have a great day and we’re going to be celebrating together," Trump added.

Cruz is facing Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) in the Texas Senate race, and polls have shown a tightening race, though the incumbent remains ahead. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls in the race shows Cruz leading by roughly 3 percentage points.

Vice President Harris is set to hold an event alongside Allred on Friday in Texas that will focus on the risks a second Trump term would pose to reproductive rights.

While in Texas, Trump focused heavily on attacking Harris over the southern border and the influx of migrants into the country. He spoke in harsh terms about those entering the U.S., warning that they were criminals and in many cases violent.

Trump called for any migrant who kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer to get the death penalty, and he vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in the nation's history.

"I think we'll break that record," Trump said. "Not that I want to break it, but we have no choice."

Trump also attacked The Atlantic after the magazine published a story citing anonymous sources who recalled the former president having an outburst over the cost of a funeral for Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Army private who was bludgeoned to death by another solider in 2020 at Ford Hood in Texas.

The former president on Friday recognized Guillén's family, who spoke out to say the story was not representative of their conversations with Trump, though Trump at no point mentioned Guillén by name.

"The beautiful thing is these people were willing to come out and say it didn't happen that way. They didn't have to do this," Trump said. "They could have sat back. Your daughter is so proud of you."