Vice President JD Vance this week said it was apparent that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was preparing to run for president in 2028.

While Vance has not announced his own campaign, he currently ranks as the party favorite for the nomination in virtually every poll. In a recent interview with NBC News, however, he said he would keep his focus on electing Republicans in the midterms.

“It is really obvious to me that, at this very moment, Ted Cruz is running for president,” he said. “At this moment, I’m not. I’m trying to help elect Republicans. That’s what I’m going to keep on doing.”

Cruz has, in recent months, used his platform to attack a number of conservative podcasters, most notably feuding with Tucker Carlson over Israel and the Iran war. He previously sought the Republican nomination in 2016, but lost out to Trump.

Whether Cruz has much of a support base to run for the office remains unclear. At present, the RealClearPolitics polling average gives him 3.0% support for the party nod, compared to 39.7% support for Vance.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.