Ted Cruz praises Trump, blasts Democrats as Texas takes center stage at CPAC

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz warned on Saturday that Democrats would dismantle Republican victories and try to impeach President Donald Trump if they win control of Congress in November.

Speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Cruz said Republicans have gained historic victories, from a sweeping crackdown on immigration to changes in the tax policy, since Trump took office in January 2025.

Democrats, Cruz said, “want to tear this country down.”

Cruz was among a slate of Texas lawmakers and politicians to address CPAC, one of the most influential conservative gatherings in the country, on the final day of the conference. They sought to frame Texas as both the nation’s leader and its ideological brainchild.

Cruz portrayed the Republican party as a group of blue-collar workers and populists, blasting Democrats as coastal elites who are out of touch with the average American.

The senator did not mention Democrat James Talarico, a Texas state representative who is running to flip the Senate seat currently held by incumbent John Cornyn. Instead, he singled out California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he joked “should be named Texas realtor of the year.”

“Nobody in history has sold more homes in the state of Texas than Gavin Newsom,” Cruz said.

Cruz is considered a potential Republican contender to run for president in 2028; Newsom is one of the leading contenders on the Democratic side.

In his address Saturday, Cruz repeatedly praised Trump — who skipped CPAC this year for the first time in a decade — on foreign policy, jobs and economic prosperity and national security.

“The world is safer when the president is strong and our enemies are afraid,” Cruz said.

Republicans could face a difficult landscape in November, with the party in power typically losing seats in the House of Representatives and often the Senate in midterm elections. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in March found Trump’s approval rating fell to 36%, the lowest number since he returned to the White House in January 2025.

In a statement, the Democratic National Committee’s rapid response director Kendall Witmer said rising gas prices, the Iran war and Trump’s tariffs have soured voters on Republicans.

“Donald Trump has broken one promise after another — and even his own supporters are fed up,“ Witmer said. ”Trump told Americans he would lower prices, create jobs, and put an end to forever wars — and he’s delivered on none of it.”

Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, who represented South Texas, said Republicans will lose in November if they do not make inroads with Latino voters, who she called the “future of the Republican party.” Flores urged the Trump administration to hire a Hispanic outreach coordinator.

“There is no future for the Republican party if we do not invest in the Hispanic community,” Flores said to little applause. “We are people of faith, family and hard work.”

U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a McKinney Republican, said the GOP must ban Sharia, the moral code laid out in Muslim scripture. Like many at the conference, Self warned that Sharia was seeping into Texas and the country, posing a risk to Americans.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said “preventing Sharia law” in Texas will be among his major priorities for the next legislative session.

“Sharia has no place in America,” Self said, calling it a “religion of the sword.”

In previous statements, the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has accused state leaders of a “publicity stunt” and “inventing imaginary threats.”

One speaker after another stressed the importance of Texas to the country’s future. On Friday, Trump ally Steve Bannon called Texas the “crown jewel of the union.”

“Where Texas goes, so goes the nation,” Bannon told the crowd to cheers. “And where the nation goes, so goes the world.”