From FactCheck.org: In accepting his party’s nomination for president, Donald Trump said “here, at our convention, there will be no lies”.
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shocked the 2016 Republican National Convention Wednesday night when he refused to endorse Donald Trump for president.
Cruz, a Texas Republican and former presidential candidate, on Thursday defended his non-endorsement of Trump, stating that the GOP needs a candidate that does not “scream and yell and hurl insults”.
He was making reference to the turn in primary process when Mr Trump launched a blistering attack on the Texas Senator’s wife, Heidi Cruz.
Then Trump appeared on stage with his vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, to greet Pence, who had just delivered an enthusiastic speech in honor of the nominee.
Cruz was initially greeted with loud cheers, and some of the delegates said in interviews later that they supported his stand. But the rage of the others demonstrated the sheer risk of the gamble Cruz took when he used his prime Wednesday speaking slot to urge conservatives to vote with their “conscience” rather than their party identification. He has come around to Trump and thinks that Cruz did exactly what Trump would have wanted.
Ted Cruz, with his wife Heidi, announced the suspension of his campaign in May.
Trump also endorsed a National Enquirer article that claimed Cruz’s dad was friends with John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
“I don’t want his endorsement”, he added. “Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored”, Trump will reportedly state in his speech.
“I supported you, and I expected you to keep your word”.
Campaign officials say that Miller, more than anyone else on the campaign, has achieved a mind-meld with the candidate, capable of channeling Mr. Trump’s blunt, short sentences into well-argued addresses with stylistic flourish.
“I am the law and order candidate”, Trump repeated throughout the night, playing judge and jury to Clinton, Obama, terrorism and Washington insiders. By letting Trump lose to Hillary Clinton this year, all the while not getting his own hands dirty, Cruz is betting that he can come back stronger in four years with a grateful base who will remember the big risk he took.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm of the NY delegation”, Cruz said. “Than all of the people who voted in the elections?” he said.
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Trump, 70, a businessman and former reality TV star who has never been elected to public office, made his entrance to the convention hall near the end of Cruz’s speech, applauding Cruz’s remarks but, by his appearance, drawing attention away from his former rival. “In a certain way, although he’s got good intellect but he doesn’t know how to use it. And he was a good debater but he didn’t go well in the debate against me”.
