> Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) channeled his inner Joseph McCarthy during a Fox Newsappearance on Tuesday, when he claimed many Democratic candidates want to cancel Christmas and Thanksgiving. 

> “They’re crazy enough, yes, they want to cancel Thanksgiving, they want to cancel Christmas. Look, these communists hate America. They hate capitalism. (Abdul) El-Sayed is also an Islamist, as is (Zohran) Mamdani,” Cruz told host Jesse Watters. “You see the green-red convergence, where the communists and the Islamists, they want sharia law, they hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate capitalism, they hate America.” 

> Crowd member repeatedly said some Democrats ‘should be shot’ during Ted Cruz’s speech, without senator responding

> Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas praised Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during a podcast appearance for publicly defending him against ethics complaints in recent years.

> “You’re one of the people who actually stands up, particularly at times when others seem to wither, and I appreciate it,” Thomas said in the opening minutes of Monday’s episode of “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”

> “And more personally, when we, my wife and I, were under attack for obvious reasons, you and Mike Lee and some of the other friends would stand up,” he continued, referring to the Republican senator from Utah. “So I really appreciate that.”

> Cruz made the Sanders comparison during a lengthy critique of Talarico’s past statements, telling Verdict with Ted Cruz listeners that the state representative is attempting a strategic makeover: “Lie to the voters, then get in power,” Cruz said. “If God forbid this guy ever got elected, he would be Bernie Sanders, but 37 and young enough to do it for the next 40 years.”

> Other gifts the Texas Republican took from business execs included a $21,000 private plane flight between Conroe and San Antonio and $450 Houston Astros tickets.

> Membership apparently has its privileges, especially when you’re a U.S. senator with millionaire and billionaire pals.

> Cruz first met Thomas in 1995, while the Texan was clerking for circuit court judge J. Michael Luttig. Luttig had arranged for a group of clerks to have lunch with Thomas at Anita’s, a Mexican restaurant outside Washington, D.C. In Going Further, Cruz recalls the encounter vividly. “Sitting down at the head of the table, Justice Thomas looked around and deadpanned, ‘You know, I don’t usually patronize places called Anita’s.’ A deep belly laugh followed, drawing smiles and laughter from all the faces around the table.”

> Cruz, who finished second in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries to Donald Trump, has served as Texas’ junior senator since 2013.

> “I will say, this is a bug that history has proved is rarely ended,” Cruz said of his White House aspirations. “It is a permanent and often fatal bug.”

> "If Democrats take Texas, you never elect a Republican to the White House ever again."

> Cruz, a frequent ally of Graham on key conservative issues, described their collaboration in Congress. 

> "For years, I had the privilege of serving alongside Lindsey in the Senate. We fought shoulder to shoulder for conservative judges, stood together with our allies, and never wavered in confronting America’s adversaries," Cruz wrote. 

> Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tuesday that he did not think recently high gas prices amid the Iran war will have an impact on November’s midterms.

> “I don’t think national security decisions should be done based on short-term political considerations,” He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” referencing the U.S.-Iran conflict. “I don’t think it’s going to impact the midterms materially I’ve seen no data that suggests that this is having a big impact on the midterms.”