But when Cruz told them “vote your conscience” up and down the ticket, it became clear that he was not going to endorse Trump. They couldn’t believe a conservative hero had used a primetime speaking slot to disparage their nominee.
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“When we say ethics, then we have to ask, ‘Well, where are those ethics coming from?'” says Michael Carroll, a law professor at American University.
Donald Trump and Mike Pence shake hands.
As Cruz took the podium, he received a hostile reception from some people in the Texas delegation.
“I have a message for all of you: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end”.
The 70-year-old celebrity businessman’s acceptance of the Republican nomination caps his improbable takeover of the GOP, a party that plunges into the general election united in opposition to Clinton but still divided over Trump. Mr. Cruz will leave Cleveland weaker than when he arrived and may find it hard to recover unless Mr. Trump loses in November in a landslide.
Mr Trump’s speech was created to set the tone for the general election campaign against Mrs Clinton, and as an answer to Republicans who say the best way he can unify the divided party is to detail why the Democrat should not be elected on 8 November.
At the same time, Cruz is also thumbing his nose at numerous same Republican officials and insiders, who were outraged by what they saw as a classless slight last night, and whose backing he’ll likely seek during his next national campaign. “No matter how conservative you are, you never can meet Ted’s standard”, Sen. “He only thinks of himself”. Cruz is so disdained by colleagues in Washington that Sen. This is the guy of whom a fellow senator, Lindsey Graham, joked, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you”. “I do understand beauty, and she’s not”, he told CNN in 2007, referencing Angelina Jolie. This is about America. “Those voters in polls express two big concerns about Trump, one that he’s racially divisive and the other is whether he has the qualifications, judgment and temperament to be president”. As Cruz told the Texas delegation this morning, it mattered to him, when he made a decision to publicly reject his Party’s nominee, that Trump had suggested that Cruz’s father had played a part in the John F. Kennedy assassination and had retweeted unflattering photos of Heidi Cruz next to glamour shots of his wife, Melania.
Judging from my Twitter feed, most people equated Ted Cruz’s speech at the Republican National Convention to setting off his political suicide vest on stage. “I guess in Texas though we support God, family and country in that order”.
However, they had a lot of help from the Trump campaign, who actively whipped the crowd up when he refused to endorse the Republican nominee. The fact is, we all, all 17 of us, signed a pledge, saying that we would support whoever the nominee was, without qualification.
Christie referred to Cruz’s speech as “too cute by half”.
The White House responded to Mr Trump’s comments by saying there should be no mistaking the commitment of the USA to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance with its European allies. We were hoping that we would see a man come out and unite for the good of the party and literally try to save the Supreme Court and so forth. “I think we have to accept that there’s an amount of space for political craft”. Trump shouted throughout as he read off a teleprompter, showing few flashes of humor or even a smile. Rep. Scott DeJarlais (R-TN), an early Trump supporter, said he thought Cruz had made a mistake.
Cruz’s speech was a gamble based on a simple assumption: At some point, he’ll be right about Donald Trump.
Ted Cruz, with his wife Heidi, announced the suspension of his campaign in May.
In a contest that pits two politicians viewed as unfavorable by large segments of the American people, Trump also accused Clinton, 68, of being the puppet of big business, elite media and major donors who want to preserve the current political system.
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“I just think the statesman thing to do is to get behind the nominee and he wasn’t selected in a smoke filled room”. He also disavowed America’s foreign policy posture under both Democratic and Republican presidents, criticizing “fifteen years of wars in the Middle East” and declaring that “Americanism, not globalizm, will be our credo”.
