Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) led the charge in the Senate to challenge the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. The plan was largely upended when a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters breached the Capitol and delayed the vote. Hawley and Cruz still went through with their objections, but the push lost momentum and many of their colleagues bailed. Since then, the two senators have faced harsh criticism across the political spectrum, but Trump himself still appears to have their backs.
In an interview with Fox News' Lisa Boothe, who launched her podcast Monday, Trump pointed to Hawley and Cruz as two people who could lead the Republican Party going forward, though he didn't mention their roles in the Capitol riot. Hawley, Trump said, "has shown some real courage in going after big tech." As for Cruz, Trump said they "had it out for a while," because Cruz "got very, very ... rather violent and vicious" during the 2016 GOP primaries, but "it simmered down and he's been great."
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), and Trump's former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the favorite to win Arkansas' 2022 gubernatorial election, were among the other figures the former president highlighted as the future of the GOP. Tim O'Donnell