The 45-year-old Texas senator sensationally withheld an endorsement of Trump in his speech on Wednesday, earning a chorus of boos from the floor while getting upstaged in a power play by the Republican party nominee himself.
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Trump lost his gamble when Cruz’s speech ended with boos and bad feelings as the audience realized Cruz would do no more than urge them to “vote your conscience” and would not endorse the candidate who soundly defeated him for the Republican nomination. That line of criticism is impossible to falsify; Cruz clearly plans to run for president again in 2020, and watching his speech at the state convention in May, I had the impression that he wouldn’t hesitate to do so even if Trump wins in November.
Burlison said Trump seemed to successfully upstage Cruz when he walked into the convention arena near the end of the speech, drawing the attention of many delegates.
“I think my message is a good message”.
Others said that if Trump was really serious about uniting the party he would reach out to his vanquished foes on the campaign trail, including Cruz and Kasich.
The Texas senator said endorsing Trump would have made him a “servile puppy dog”. Despite the party’s obvious fracturing at a time when it’s seeking to unite, he also suggested the delegates’ loud snub of Cruz had rallied Republicans behind his father.
Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Louisiana were the top five states searching for “Ted Cruz booed”, according to Google. But, he said, unfortunately, the positives were overshadowed by Cruz’s disruptive, “self-imposed negative unity”.
“I think it was the biggest mistake of his political career and it may be one that imperils his political future”, Kobach said in a phone call from Cleveland. “And then at the last minute, once he said, ‘vote your conscience, ‘ I blew a gasket”.
Dane County Republican Party Chairman Scott Grabins said in an email that he understands the primary campaign left “bruises”.
When you have the only true “red” candidate still relevant in this election, Ted Cruz, openly refusing to endorse the soon-to-be-official Republican candidate you have to wonder… Because Ted Cruz has decided that he knows better? “I don’t intend to say negative things about Donald Trump”, said Cruz. Is Donald Trump the ideal candidate? He did not, however, endorse Trump. The most important speech of his life will bring down the balloons on a convention marked by divided loyalties and unwanted distractions. “There are going to be people who remember that moment. The common perception about Cruz among Kansas delegates is political suicide”.
Speaking to a passionate but divided Texas delegation, Cruz said the unconditional support for the GOP nominee that he had promised earlier this year disappeared “the day this became personal”.
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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?”.
