Ted Cruz
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Texas, interviewed on CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Response to this claim
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
“I think it is a military conflict. There's relatively little active military engagement right now. There are occasional skirmishes. There's some shots back and forth. But it's been several months since we've had sustained military conflict. ... Are there some ongoing hostilities? Yes, but it is not as sustained. And it is not a military conflict that has major engagement most days.”
CNN's rush transcript of The Source with Kaitlan Collins for September 8, 2026, aired at 9 p.m. ET. Collins asks Cruz about gas prices and asks, "Do you believe that this is a war?" She later plays Vance's September 3 answer and asks a follow-up. CNN marks the transcript as possibly not in its final form.
Why we used this label
The reference point is Vance's statement that he would not call the fighting a war. Asked directly whether it is a war, Cruz answers "I think it is a military conflict" and describes little active engagement, which supports the not-a-war description. He acknowledges "ongoing hostilities" but calls them "not as sustained", so defends or excuses fits better than mixed or conditional.