AP Exclusive: Ted Cruz rejected Bush White House job offer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ted Cruz has said that being passed over for a senior government position after working on George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign was “a crushing blow.”

Turns out, it was his own fault.

Cruz was offered a job as White House associate counsel shortly after Democratic candidate Al Gore conceded the race. But members of the Bush transition team told The Associated Press that Cruz rejected the offer. They said Cruz thought he was in line for the more senior role of deputy White House counsel.

The transition team members asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly for the Bush administration.

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They said even before the associate counsel job was offered to Cruz, the deputy counsel position had been promised to someone with more Washington experience.