Undercutting calls for Republican unity, Texas Sen.
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Cruz’s moment here comes Wednesday night, as the man who galvanized millions of grassroots followers and is nearly certain to be a front-runner four years from now should Trump lose, addresses the Republican National Convention.
As the convention crowd realized Cruz had come to bury Trump and not to praise him, a wave of anger electricity pulsated through the arena.
Cruz received 559 delegate votes, compared to Trump’s 1,543.
Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort said that since Cruz came second in the primary race, he deserved a good speaking spot. He estimated that about a third of their supporters are now “all-in for Trump, a third are like, ‘Gosh, I wish I didn’t have to, but I can’t stand Hillary, ‘ and a third are probably like, ‘I’m just going to wait and see how the campaign goes'”.
Cruz’s defiance ripped open party divisions anew, on the summer’s biggest political stage.
McNamara said she always liked Trump but has supported Cruz since he ran for the Senate in 2012.
Pence will officially accept the GOP nomination for vice president, and his speech will be important in laying out to the country who the governor and congressman. “But this week, with this united party, he has got back up”, Pence roared above the cheering crowd. Mike Lee, a close Cruz friend, gazing at the podium where Cruz will speak Wednesday evening. “In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution”. As Cruz’s speech concluded, delegates chanted “endorse Trump” over the former presidential candidate.
Still, Trump’s campaign invited Cruz to speak – in a headliner role, no less.
The booing was so intense the Trump campaign encouraged its many staffers on the convention floor to try to calm the delegates down, said a Trump aide speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal campaign discussions.
“I congratulate Donald Trump on winning the nomination last night”, Cruz said. By smaller, he meant that Cruz supporters were pushing for primaries where only registered Republicans can participate.
Washington delegate Joel Mattila was more strident. She said conservatives need to rally to block Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.
“We deserve an immigration system that puts America first”.
Lynne Patton, a longtime Trump employee, spoke movingly about the businessman’s strong family.
New Hampshire Republicans are strongly condemning a Trump supporter for saying that Hillary Clinton should be “shot for treason”. That hope was quickly dashed in opening-day proceedings.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, joked about the incident on Tuesday. Trump, who won Alabama’s GOP primary in March, had 36 delegates from Alabama, while Florida Sen. “Thank you for your support of Ted Cruz for President”.
“He’s a chicken”, said Eugene Delgaudio, a delegate from Sterling, Virginia, who clucked like a chicken when asked about Cruz’s decision. While Clinton has been a target of GOP ire for decades, the harshness of the attacks has been striking. Outside the convention hall, vendors are selling lewd T-shirts and buttons mocking her. Inside, delegates have repeatedly broken out in chants of “Lock her up!” and cheered on speakers who labeled her a liar. Though anti-Clinton sentiment is an easy way to bring Republicans together, the negativity crossed the line for some in the party. Bob Corker of Tennessee.
“We can’t trust him”, she said.
But he also seemed to give his own supporters a pass if they didn’t fully feel comfortable in voting for Trump.
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Trump Jr. says politicians overpromise and under-deliver and that his father is different. However, as Reince Preibus pointed out after conferring for ten minutes with the Alaska delegation, their votes are governed by a rule that reallocates delegates as candidates suspend their campaigns.
