Sen. Ted Cruz is meeting with Donald Trump on Friday, perhaps to get the billionaire's blessing should the tea party-backed lawmaker seek the presidency in 2016.
The outspoken business mogul and the junior senator from Texas have spoken by phone a few times since meeting in August at the Iowa Family Leader summit,
Politico reports.
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Though a U.S. senator for less than a year, Cruz is a tea party favorite who became fairly well known when he filibustered for 21 hours on the Senate floor in an attempt to derail Obamacare.
A Cruz spokeswoman said the senator and Trump are "friends" and Cruz will visit Trump Tower while in New York City on a fundraising trip.
Receiving Trump's blessing has become something of a GOP tradition. Several 2012 Republican presidential candidates met with the real estate developer and entertainment personality after Trump announced he would not be seeking the nomination, Politico reports.
Trump endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008, both of whom won the Republican nomination but lost to President Barack Obama.
Trump has said in the past that he bases his votes more on the candidate than the political party. He opposes gun control and abortion and has said he believes in traditional marriage between one man and one woman, though he recently told MSNBC that his views on marriage are
"evolving.
"
Trump told
CNN that he supports tea party principles.
"I’m a believer in the tea party because what they want is what's really right for this country," he said. "They want something to be done about this horrendous debt, something to be done about a lot of different things going on in the country.
"Our country is in a free fall, and these are good American people. These are great American people, so, you know, sometimes severe, sometimes not so severe, but they do want what's good for the country."
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