What Trump is doing now is patriotic. So has what Cruz has been doing throughout his career.
As a lawyer, he did what his clients paid him to do; though he didn't win all that many cases.
As a Freshman Senator, he either did what he was told to do, or bloviated, ranted, and/or lied to make a name for himself. Mostly, he was just running for the GOP presidential nominee. THAT'S PATRIOTIC?