A day after being booed off the Republican National Convention stage, Texas Sen.
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As luck would have it, Donald Trump’s plane flew overhead when Cruz said the party had a nominee – and his backers started booing. All eyes will also be on Ted Cruz Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich will have his opportunity to show why he should have been selected as Trump’s running mate.
With an eye toward 2020, Cruz’s team drafted a convention speech focusing on adherence to the Constitution, a calling card for conservatives and a perceived contrast with Trump.
But as Cruz wore on, it became apparent to the very pro-Trump crowd that he was not going to endorse his former rival, telling people they shouldn’t “stay home in November” but they should feel free to “vote your conscience”. “Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution”.
But during Wednesday night’s convention speech, Cruz only congratulated Trump and told delegates to vote their conscience.
The role of Daniel among the lions was left to Ted Cruz – and like any good evangelical, he jumped at the chance to be martyred.
Cruz was jeered off stage after he failed to endorse Trump.
“Aren’t Trump rallies fun?” the GOP nominee has asked supporters at his campaign events.
He encouraged voters to back his father because he is “quite frankly, my friends… the one candidate who does not need this job”.
Donald Trump made his “official” entry into convention city on Wednesday, a made-for-television helicopter landing with bright and blue Lake Erie in the background. And would Cruz have pulled this stunt if Jeb Bush or John Kasich were the nominee? 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'”. “I appreciate the enthusiasm of the NY delegation”, he said.
Boos rained down on Cruz from California delegates in the front of the convention floor to guests filling up the nose bleed seats. Even though Cruz seemed to approve of several aspects of Trump’s platform, he ultimately walked away from the podium without endorsing the Republican nominee.
Should Trump lose, King said of Cruz, the speech will be “the marker for him as front-runner” for 2020.
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He used his convention speech as the foundation for a fundraising email for his Senate campaign: “Will you stand with me by making an immediate donation $5, $10, $25, or whatever you can afford today?”. “You know, he embarrassed himself pretty quickly in this”, Jeff Roe said in a radio interview in Philadelphia first reported by BuzzFeed.
