Ted Cruz ‘certainly looking’ at 2024 White House run: ‘2016 was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life’

Texas Senator says current battleground is US Senate and fighting back against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and ‘incredible threat they’re posing to our liberty’

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has said that he’s “certainly looking” at a 2024 run for the White House.

“I’m certainly looking at it ... 2016 was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. We came incredibly close,” he told Newsmax on Thursday.

Mr Cruz said his 2016 campaign “had an incredible grassroots army – 326,000 volunteers nationwide”.

“Whether it is in the Senate or in a presidential campaign, I’m committed to fighting to defend free enterprise, to defend freedom and to defend the constitution and the bill of rights,” he added.

“Right now, the battleground is the US Senate. Right now, the battleground is fighting back on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the incredible threat they’re posing to our liberty. I’m proud to be leading that fight right now in the US Senate,” Mr Cruz said.

Mr Cruz suspended his last presidential campaign on 3 May 2016, over a year after he announced his candidacy in March 2015.

He won 11 contests and 551 delegates in the 2016 Republican primaries. Out of the 17 major candidates, Mr Cruz came in second after Donald Trump, who won 41 contests and garnered 1,441 delegates.

Would he choose to run again, former President Trump would be the overwhelming favourite to win the Republican nomination in 2024.

Mr Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News on Wednesday that he has made up his mind on whether he will run again, but without indicating what the decision was.

“You are not going to answer, but I have to ask, where are you in the process,” Mr Hannity asked Mr Trump. “Let me ask you this, without giving the answer, what the answer is, have you made up your mind?”

“Yes,” Mr Trump replied. While some possible candidates have indicated that they wouldn’t run if Mr Trump entered the contest, it’s possible that the 2024 Republican primary field would still be crowded.

“If you move forward, you know how difficult it is, but you seem ready to reengage in that battle,” Mr Hannity said later in his conversation with the former president.

“It’s not that I want to,” Mr Trump said. “The country needs it. We have to take care of this country. I don’t want to, is this fun? Fighting constantly? Fighting always? I mean, the country, what we have done is so important.”

Other possible Republican contenders include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence, and the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis.

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden has said that he expects to run for reelection, despite concerns about his age. He’s 78 years old and would be 86 when leaving office at the end of a possible second term.