TED CRUZ: Here's The One Thing That Will Guarantee A Hillary Clinton Victory

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CNBC

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on CNBC.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) believes the Republican Party needs to avoid one crucial mistake in the 2016 presidential election: running a candidate "in the mold" of Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee.

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"If we run another candidate like that, Hillary Clinton will be the next president," Cruz said Thursday morning on CNBC.

Cruz, a conservative firebrand who is considering a presidential campaign, urged Republicans to "learn from history."

"We need to look to history and what works and what doesn't," he said. "The one thing is clear is if Republicans run another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole, or a John McCain, or a Mitt Romney - and let me be clear, all three of those are good, honorable men. They're decent men. They're patriots. But if we run another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole, or a John McCain, or Mitt Romney, we will end up with the same result."

Cruz was responding to a question about the potential candidacy of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Florida), the brother and son of the two most recent Republican presidents. Cruz declined to say whether Bush was too far to the left, but he spoke broadly about uninspiring candidates.

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"Jeb has not declared his candidacy," Cruz said. "I like Jeb. I'm a fan of Jeb Bush's. I'm going to let him decide if he's running first and let the primary voters make a decision."

Watch below.