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Some of the students in the crowd were spotted wearing campaign shirts supporting one of Cruz's likely 2016 rivals - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).
The shirts bore the slogan "Stand With Rand" and were visible alongside Cruz in live broadcasts of the speech. Cruz and Paul are viewed as direct competitors in the 2016 GOP primary and there has been speculation Cruz timed his announcement to preempt Paul's, which is expected to come next month.
Washington Post reporter Robert Costa posted a screenshot of the Paul fans on Twitter:
Spotted at Liberty in Cruz crowd: "Stand with Rand" T-shirts pic.twitter.com/PDNKGRwbW2
- Robert Costa (@costareports) March 23, 2015