Ted Cruz is a leader; Leader of the invertebrate caucus, but a leader is a leader, right?

From Politico -

Ted Cruz walks back Jan. 6 'terrorist' remark in heated exchange with Tucker Carlson

Ted Cruz on Thursday walked back his use of the word “terrorist” when describing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during an intense back and forth with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who repeatedly questioned the validity of the Republican senator’s explanation.

Cruz was lambasted during Carlson’s Wednesday night show for describing Jan. 6 as “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol.” During his Thursday night appearance, when Carlson asked him why he used the word "terrorist," Cruz brushed off his previous phrasing as “sloppy” and “frankly dumb.”

Cruz established his "spineless" bonafides years ago; this latest example just reinforced something that everyone knew already.

From the Daily Beast in 2016 -

Trump Attacks Heidi Cruz’s Looks

Donald Trump continued his verbal assault on his top rival’s wife late Wednesday evening with a crude retweet negatively comparing her looks to that of his ex-model wife Melania. On Tuesday, the GOP frontrunner threatened to “spill the beans” on Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, in return for an unaffiliated super PAC’s ad shaming Melania for having once posed nude for a magazine. In return, Cruz called the reality-TV star a “coward” and Heidi denied that Trump’s innuendo was grounded in reality. Fulfilling his unassailable classiness, however, Trump then manually retweeted a supporter’s message showing side-by-side images of Heidi and Melania, with the caption, “No need to ‘spill the beans,’ the images are worth a thousand words.” Cruz responded shortly thereafter: “Donald, real men don’t attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life.”

From GQ in 2017 -

Ted Cruz Takes Wife to Dinner with the Man Who Called Her Ugly

Texas senator and noted revisionist historian Ted Cruz has enjoyed what could perhaps charitably called a rocky relationship with Donald Trump. The former rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination were cordial enough at first, but once the field of candidates had been winnowed down to just the two of them, Trump went nuclear on "Lyin' Ted," taking to Twitter to call Cruz's wife ugly and implying in an interview that Cruz's father was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. As Cruz himself might say, things escalated quickly.

Unwilling to let such repulsive attacks on his family go unaddressed, the senator courageously responded by issuing a blistering rebuke of Trump's comments, and even after Trump eventually secured the GOP nomination and became president, Ted Cruz never forgot the despicable insults and outrageous lies uttered about the man who raised him and the mother of his chil—hahaha, just kidding, he rolled over so fast that he almost threw out his back. Last night, the man reached a previously undiscovered level of spinelessness, bringing his family to dine at the White House with President Trump and the First Lady.