Even the genial Mike Pence moment fell short when compared to the thumpin’ Ted Cruz gave to Donald Trump. “This is all about Ted Cruz trying to make the party smaller”. One said he wasn’t sure, and wants to see how he behaves.
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As his speech reached its crescendo, so did the ire of the crowd.
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told reporters he’s “comfortable” with Cruz’s remarks. His rollout was overshadowed by Trump giving a long speech in which Pence was not exactly the featured subject.
The audience full of delegates seemed to really love Pence’s speech as they kept on shouting and alternating between “We like Mike” and “U-S-A” throughout the speech’s duration.
Trump later called Cruz’s non-endorsement “no big deal!” The convention floor briefly devolved into chaos following his remarks.
He was turned away from mega-donor Sheldon Adelson’s suite after the episode, three sources told CNN. “I have no idea who he voted for in the last election, or what he thought about this one”, Cruz said of Michael Smith, a former Army Ranger. “I meant it then and I mean it now”, Waker said.
Hillary Clinton won’t help Cruz escape turncoat accusations. “Stand and speak and vote your conscience”.
He got a prolonged standing ovation as he walked on stage for a speech that appeared to be an attempt to establish himself as the guardian of conservative values that some activists doubt Trump shares.
In a late night tweet, Trump said he had seen Cruz’s speech two hours before he took the stage but let him speak anyway. While Trump has energized many Republican voters, others remain deeply skeptical of his unorthodox candidacy and divisive policy proposals. He never once mentioned Trump in speech, except when he congratulated him before formally beginning the speech. “He just said he was not enthusiastic about it”, said Don Huffines, a Texas state senator from a powerful Dallas family. As the crowd booed, Cruz looked up and laughed when he realized who was buzzing past.
Ted Cruz took the RNC stage Wednesday, not to endorse Donald Trump (he didn’t), but to make a case for the Republican party and against Hillary Clinton.
Pence is building a case that he can take a conservative approach from IN and use it to tackle the nation’s debt and economy. “For those of you who don’t know me, which is most of you, I grew up on the front row of the American dream”. “If she were any more on the inside, she would be in prison”, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker roared, drawing the crowd to its feet.
It was his Indiana Nice version of Trump’s “Crooked Hillary”.
While we were visiting delegates on the floor, we ran into Don King, a Trump supporter…who had this to say to the Tar Heel State. The more Trump struggles with non-whites, the more pressure there is for him to reach levels of white support no candidate has managed since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide. And within minutes of the IN governor taking to the stage, social media reactions to Mike Pence’s RNC speech proved that everyone’s predictions of another wild evening had been correct.
“The American public is obviously tired-rejecting the status quo”. He carried that perspective further in his acceptance address, calling Trump “a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers”. He doesn’t tip-toe around a thousand new rules of political correctness.
The gathering’s open secret was that Cruz came to audition for 2020 – an ambition that largely counts on Trump losing this year and leaving an open field for the next election.
The final night of the convention, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, is Trump’s night.
Trump won the primary by exciting independents who don’t typically participate in the nominating process.
Many delegates said they are still finding out who that is. Patton, who is black, said she was proud to support Trump “not just in spite of the color of my skin, but in fact because of the color of my skin”.
But under the bright lights, Walker just can’t match Cruz’s skill, Trump’s showmanship or Pence’s talk-radio polish.
He might be trying too hard.
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“We deserve an immigration system that puts America first”.
