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WASHINGTON Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is further distancing himself from the prospect of serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that while he was honored to be mentioned by President Donald Trump as a potential justice, the high court is not where I want to serve.

Its not the desire of my heart, the Republican senator said over the weekend on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. I want to be in the political fight. I want to stay fighting right where I am in the U.S. Senate.

Asked point-blank if he wanted a job on the Supreme Court, Cruz didnt hesitate.

I dont, he said.

Cruz still didnt explicitly say that he would turn down the opportunity if offered.

But his comments on Fox News pointed to a far stronger level of disinterest in the gig than he had initially indicated last week, when Trump included him on a list of 20 additional potential justices he would nominate in a second term if any Supreme Court spots came open.

At that time, Cruz said only that he looked forward to continuing to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Trump last week unveiled the slate of potential Supreme Court justices as a way to fire up conservatives heading into the November election. He deployed a similar tactic in 2016, pitching a focus on the federal judiciary that helped solidify his standing with the Republican base.

Cruz, while better known these days as a politician, has a lengthy legal rsum.

He clerked for the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1995. He then served as Texas' solicitor general, with Texas Sen. John Cornyn calling him one of the premier appellate lawyers in the state, if not the nation.

Cruz also has a new book coming out on the Supreme Court.

But Democrats in Texas and beyond were quick to dismiss Cruz as a potential justice, in part because of the partisan record hes developed in the Senate. The Texan has also made clear his ambition to run again for the White House after nearly winning the GOP nomination in 2016.

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Does Ted Cruz want to be Donald Trumps future Supreme Court pick? I dont, the Texan says - The Dallas Morning News