Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has claimed he was actually dazzled by the insulting nickname Donald Trump bestowed on him during their bitter battle for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Trump repeatedly branded his rival “Lyin’ Ted” during the campaign, while also attacking Cruz’s wife, Heidi, and insulting her appearance.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity, on the latest episode of his “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” podcast, asked Cruz about the nickname: “Did it piss you off at the time?”

“No, because I respect the fight,” Cruz, a potential Republican 2028 candidate, claimed.

“It was actually political genius,” continued Cruz, who traded a series of attacks with Trump during the 2016 primary before performing a total 180 to become one of his biggest supporters.

Sen. Ted Cru, right, has claimed he was actually dazzled by the insulting nickname Donald Trump bestowed on him during their bitter battle for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

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Trump has “got an instinctual marketing genius,” Cruz said.

“If you look at that race, my biggest strength was people trusted me. People trusted that I believed what I said, that when I said I would do something, I would do it. That had been my whole record of doing what I said,” he explained.

The “Lyin’ Ted” nickname was “effective because it literally went to my greatest strength,” he added. “It’s jujitsu. It’s using your opponent’s strength against him. It was brilliant.”

Cruz said he wasn’t sure whether Trump had thought about the insult on such a deep level or whether it was “just instinctual” for the president.

During the same interview, Cruz also praised Trump for having what he described as “cast-iron balls.”

Watch the exchange from the 1:09:00 mark on YouTube.