Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who finished in second place to President Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, has distinguished himself from MAGA World by declaring his skepticism of long-term tariffs, remaining a hawk on Russia and coming out against proposals to tax the rich.

By calling out tariffs as “taxes on American consumers” and sticking to his view that Russia poses a serious threat to U.S. interests, Cruz may be laying the groundwork to run against Trump’s heir apparent, Vice President Vance, in a 2028 Republican primary.

“I think he’s carving out a position for himself as the defender of traditional conservatism,” Vin Weber, a Republican strategist, said of Cruz, who is 54.

“He’s a viable contender for president because he’s a brilliant conservative and he represents the largest Republican state,” he said.

A big potential obstacle for anyone seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2028 is Vance, who is 40.

Vance is Trump’s natural heir apparent, and has fully embraced the MAGA agenda, including the use of high tariffs to bring manufacturing back to the United States and a view that the nation doesn’t have the defense industrial capacity to continue providing billions of dollars in military support to Ukraine.

Weber said Vance is an “obvious problem” to any White House ambitions from Cruz or other Republicans.

“I supported Jack Kemp against George H.W. Bush in 1988 and we thought we had a great chance because Jack was the defender of Reaganism, but we couldn’t overcome the strength of the sitting vice president,” he said, referring to former President George H.W. Bush’s victory in the 1988 Republican presidential primary.

“The MAGA base, they love JD Vance,” he added.

A Republican strategist allied with Cruz declined to speculate about the senator’s future political ambitions but ticked off the advantages he would bring to any presidential race.

“You got a guy that has 99-percent name ID with the party, a guy that has a national fundraising and small-dollar infrastructure and a guy that came in second in........

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