Cruz gaggles with reporters nearly every single day on the trail. And if he stops for a few days, and reporters begin to complain, the gaggles start back up. Cruz has held off-the-record drinking nights with reporters. And he knows how to create the media moments in ways that will drive the cycle, if only for a few hours.
On a recent Cruz campaign flight from South Carolina to New Hampshire, the candidate brought back a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the press corps, joking about the best ways to eat them before gamely answering some questions.

“Compared to some of the other campaign press corps, I’d say we get a lot of access,” wrote a Cruz beat reporter for a major outlet in an email.

The nearly daily gaggle is something almost all the reporters interviewed for this piece brought up. Cruz, a trained debater, seems to revel in such events even if he ends up filibustering answers so that only three or so questions are asked in the time allotted. Still, the reporters following his campaign regularly appreciate the attention.

“He very much understands the game of politics and that cuts both ways,” said another Cruz reporter for a major news outlet.