Burying the former public feud with President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, jokes he has shaken off his "silly nicknames" and put "minor squabbles" and "hard feelings" behind them.
"This was also a breakthrough year in which my presidential sobriquet went from 'Lyin' Ted' to 'Beautiful Ted,'" Cruz told the Gridiron Club on Saturday night, Politico reported. "I gotta say, that new pet name felt like it really hit the mark. Why else do you think I'm growing a beard?
". . . Anyway, silly nicknames can be hard to shed. Just ask my distinguished colleagues: Little Marco, Pocahontas, and Spartacus."
Cruz's references were to others ridiculed by President Trump on both sides of the aisle, including Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Cory Booker, D-N.J.
"In any event, I'm sure I've shaken off my 2016 nickname for good, along with any hard feelings that might have lingered from my clash with Donald Trump," Cruz added, per Politico.
"Sometimes you just have to put minor squabbles behind you – you know, like whether or not your dad was the guy on the Grassy Knoll."
The latter referencing President Trump's campaign claim Cruz's father was associated with Lee Harvey Oswald before former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
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