Ted Cruz says the GOP establishment is 'abandoning' Marco Rubio

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The GOP establishment has lost faith in Marco Rubio — at least according to Ted Cruz. The Texas senator says that since Rubio's chances at winning the nomination seem to be waning, the "Washington establishment" is "abandoning" Rubio in favor of Donald Trump. "They're making the assessment that Marco can't win this race, and the Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump," Cruz said. "We're seeing that every day. And Mr. Trump is welcoming the support of the Washington establishment."

Pressed to name who exactly of the Washington establishment was supporting Trump, Cruz didn't get specific. He instead went on to underscore Trump's record of supporting Democrats, in retort to earlier comments from former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole questioning Cruz's ability to work with Congress and suggesting that Trump would be less damaging to the party than Cruz.

"Well, I don't think there are a lot of Republicans who think the problem with Republican leadership is that they won't make deals with the Democrats," Cruz said, defending himself against Dole's attacks on his allegiance to the Republican Party. He added: "If you believe what we need is more deal-making, more going along to get along, use his words, with Harry Reid and Barack Obama and the Democrats, then you can understand why the establishment is unifying behind him."