By Aila Slisco
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Republican Senator Ted Cruz is being pressured to turn on former President Donald Trump after former National Enquirer published David Pecker testified that he helped Trump's 2016 campaign by manufacturing fake stories about Cruz.
Pecker made the remarks at Trump's hush-money criminal trial in New York City on Monday and Tuesday, testifying that he helped the then-future president win the White House by agreeing to publish negative and false stories about Cruz and his other political rivals before the 2016 presidential election.
According to Pecker, Cruz, his fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Ben Carson—all of whom were running against Trump for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination—were targeted by the fake stories, as was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump's eventual general election opponent.
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After purportedly agreeing to the plan during a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower, Pecker said that he helped manufacture stories that falsely claimed Cruz had multiple mistresses and attempted to establish a link between the senator's father and the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
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While Cruz lashed out at Trump for repeating the Kennedy story at the time, calling him a "pathological liar" who "doesn't know the difference between truth and lies," he went on to endorse Trump and has repeatedly praised him with little criticism since 2016.
In posts to X, formerly Twitter, Cruz was mocked by critics on Tuesday for alleged cowardice in failing to fight back against the ex-president.
"Can you imagine how little self-respect you have to have to endorse, support, and praise the man who did this to you?" former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski wrote while sharing an image of one of the fake Cruz stories.
"This is what I keep thinking," sportswriter Jeff Pearlman wrote in response to Filipkowski's post. "@tedcruz has perfected shamelessness."
"Team Trump was personally placing articles in The Enquirer accusing @tedcruz of infidelity," posted Tommy Vietor, an ex-spokesperson for former President Barack Obama. "Will the world's saddest cuck actually stand up for himself and his family this time? I think we know the answer..."
"Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz will probably put out a joint statement of support for Trump today," former Clinton campaign staffer Josh Schwerin wrote.
"So, Ted, how does it feel to find out from David Pecker that he colluded with Trump to trash your campaign in 2016?" posted @ShePersisted001. "LOL, makes you want to run right out & stump for him, eh?"
"Will yellow bellied coward Ted Cruz still support Donald Trump," @jaredziimmer wrote. "The answer is probably yes."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the office of Cruz via email on Tuesday.
Cruz told NBC News on Tuesday that he was "not interested in revisiting ancient history" after being asked about Pecker's testimony.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly referred to Cruz as "Lyin' Ted" and offered regular insults for the Texas senator before securing the GOP nomination, including ridiculing his wife Heidi Cruz over her appearance.
Tuesday was far from the first time that Cruz has been mocked for failing to stand up to Trump in the years since they ran against each other, having previously been called "emasculated" and a "coward" for his unwavering deference to the ex-president.
In a 2022 Saturday Night Live comedy sketch, a fictional version of Cruz invited Trump to "hit me, choke me, spit in my mouth" after apologetically backtracking on calling the pro-Trump rioters who participated in the January 6 Capitol attack "terrorists."
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