“We have had three elections since President Obama was elected. Two of them – 2010 and 2014 – were national referenda on Obamacare. It was the number one issue, twice. Both elections were tsunami, tidal-waves for Republicans — historic victories,” Cruz said, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by National Journal.

“Now, in between the two tidal waves, the Republican Party, in its infinite wisdom, sought out and found the one human being on the face of the planet who had designed and implemented a program just like Obamacare. Literally – there are 7 billion people on earth. You could have grabbed any other person and asked them, ‘Excuse me, sir, have you designed and implemented Obamacare? No? You’re a better candidate!'”

Yet in many public appearances, and in his book, A Time for Truth, Cruz has been deferential to Romney. The senator repeatedly calls Romney “smart,” “experienced,” “honorable” and “decent” in his book, softening his criticism of Romney’s alleged lack of vision and his “infamous gaffe” about 47 percent of Americans being dependent on government and therefore unwilling to vote for him.