Ted Cruz

Now, DOJ is qualitatively different.

And listen, I'll say, as for me, you know, in the first Trump administration.

I talked to the president quite seriously about possibly being AG.

And in Trump won, I went in and spent about four and a half hours in Trump Tower the week after the election in November 2016.

And I had a conversation with him on a number of fronts.

And I made what I would say would be a half-hearted play for AG.

What I told him at the time is I said, listen, I recognized back then that I was pretty late on the train.

And I said, there are others like Jeff Sessions or Giuliani or Christie.

If they want to be AG, you probably should give it to them.

But if you wanted to talk to me about this, I'd be willing to have that conversation.

We did talk about it.

We had a good conversation.

The president made the decision to go with Jeff Sessions.

Jeff was a good friend of mine, was a colleague in the Senate.

I was happy for him.

And I will tell you, in the 11 years since that conversation, I have been grateful every day since then.

that I did not go down that path.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

And look, I made a half-hearted play on purpose.

I know how to make a full-throated play, but I thought I perceived...