Cruz left a certain amount to the imagination with his speech, declining to issue an explicit endorsement of Trump.
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Ever since Cruz delivered the now-infamous “vote your conscience” line instead of backing Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, he’s been getting the ire of the Trump Train and it doesn’t look like it will slow down. ‘But I don’t want his endorsement. “And then at the last minute, once he said, ‘vote your conscience, ‘ I blew a gasket”. But that doesn’t seem to have panned out. Dormant since ending his campaign in early May, Cruz reignited the personal feud between the top two finishers in the Republican primaries when he spoke at the convention but would not urge his hundreds of delegates to vote for Trump in November. She said that Trump’s speech was based on drumming up fear, but “you listen to a speech like that, and I don’t know how there’s anybody left in America who isn’t afraid of Donald Trump”.
Cruz’s original speech during the convention caused such a stir that his wife had to be escorted from Quicken Loans Arena while Republican delegates reportedly yelled “Goldman Sachs” – where Heidi works – at her as she fled.
In a press conference Friday, Trump blasted Cruz, telling reporters that, if the Texas lawmaker endorses him, he “will not accept it”. In response to the chants of “we want Trump”, Cruz quipped that he appreciated the enthusiasm from the NY delegation.
“I think he was surprised, and his wife Heidi turned to me and said ‘you’re wrong, you’re wrong, and I just said, ‘Well, I love you Heidi, but your husband is wrong'”.
Despite Trump’s claims to the contrary on Friday, Cruz and his campaign did in fact deny that the photo was of his father.
“I’d really like to ask Ted Cruz, is it all about you and not the people he represents?” 40 out of 41 individual delegates backed Cruz, but were bound by the state’s presidential primary won by Trump.
As it stands, anti-Clinton anger is what’s bringing Republicans together as a united front, not a billionaire from New York City or any other Republican on that level.
Donald Trump’s running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence introduced himself as “a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican”. “And quite frankly, I think it was something selfish”, Christie said of Cruz’s non-endorsement. “And in Texas we’re people of our own word – and, yes, he should endorse Trump”, she said.
But the boos underscore the fight ahead for the party as Trump gets set to run for president later this year.
The Trump folks were livid, even though they’d seen the speech in advance, and if anything it created a little wave of sympathy for the nominee.
Regarding the accusations against Rafael Cruz, Trump said that he had merely referred to a story in the National Enquirer, whose credibility he commended.
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The differences between Cruz and Trump were based in personality and policy. He had stayed officially neutral for months, although his parents – Joe and Marlene Ricketts – were the main backers of an anti-Trump super PAC.
