Cruz: I’ll ‘always be a big fan’ of Palin

by Jesse Byrnes - 01/19/16 2:22 PM ET

Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) on Tuesday afternoon brushed off a potential endorsement of Republican presidential rival Donald Trump by Sarah Palin, saying he will “always be a big fan” of the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate.

{mosads}”I love @SarahPalinUSA Without her support, I wouldn’t be in the Senate. Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan,” Cruz tweeted.

His remarks come after Palin’s daughter, Bristol, penned a fiery post slamming Cruz’s “arrogance” for thinking her mom endorsing Trump would hurt her.

“After hearing what Cruz is now saying about my mom, in a negative knee-jerk reaction, makes me hope my mom does endorse Trump,” Bristol Palin wrote in a blog post, which her mom shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Bristol was responding to comments from earlier in the day by Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler, who said he would be “deeply disappointed” if Sarah Palin endorsed Trump.

“I think it would be a blow to Sarah Palin, because Sarah Palin has been a champion of the conservative cause, and if she was going to endorse Donald Trump, sadly she would be endorsing someone who’s held progressive views all their life on the sanctity of life, on marriage, on partial-birth abortion, he supported [the] TARP bailout — it goes on and on and on,” Tyler said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Palin backed Cruz’s Senate bid and has spoken warmly of both him and Trump, telling CNN last month, “What a nice problem to have if it came down to Cruz and Trump.”

The flare-up Tuesday came shortly before Trump is slated to unveil a “special guest” during a campaign stop in Iowa later in the day, with rising speculation Palin will be endorsing Trump.

Tags 2016 endorsements 2016 GOP primary Sarah Palin Ted Cruz