During the fight for the Republican nomination, Mr Trump nicknamed Mr Cruz “Lyin’ Ted”, linked his father to president John F Kennedy’s alleged assassin and criticised the appearance of Mr Cruz’s wife, Heidi.
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After dissing Donald Trump at this summer’s “Republican” national convention – and paying a hefty political price – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has made a decision to drop his indifference and make good on his prior pledge to back the GOP presidential nominee.
In a Facebook post, he said: “After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump”.
In justifying his 180-degree turn, Cruz pointed to his promise to vote for the Republican nominee a year ago. “I think it’s the worst political miscalculation of my lifetime”, Deace wrote in one of a series of tweets.
“Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable, that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary”, he said.
What motivated him? Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, whom Cruz claims is “manifestly unfit to be president” and whose “policies would harm millions of Americans”.
During the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, when many expected Cruz to endorse Trump, he told delegates instead to “stand and speak and vote your conscience” amid boos from the convention floor.
The Utah senator was the first of Cruz’s 53 Republican colleagues to endorse him. On the other hand, when you have all but suggested that said nominee is a deranged psychopath, endorsing him runs the risk of being seen as a transparently political move that undermines Cruz’s “principled conservative” brand.
Ted Cruz, as many of you are now aware, endorsed his one-time adversary Donald Trump for president on Friday. He was a tough and brilliant opponent. Trump ranted about Cruz at a news conference and replied that he didn’t want his endorsement anyway. There are also whispers about a primary challenge to Cruz in 2018. “Mike Lee, who would make an extraordinary justice – and making an explicit commitment to nominate only from that list”, Cruz said. The angry response from fellow Republicans to Mr. Cruz’s July convention speech surprised the senator’s top aides.
At the same time, the large staff that worked on Cruz’s presidential bid pushed him not to endorse.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was state chairman of Cruz’s presidential campaign but now has that role for Trump. When that didn’t happen, Cruz became Trump’s most bristling, eloquent critic, attacking an “amoral” and “sniveling” candidate who could not be trusted to defend the Constitution.
He also said he noticed recent campaign moves from Trump that he agreed with ideologically.
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To other conservatives, who had come to see Cruz as a champion of the movement, today’s endorsement was just as shocking – and then, suddenly, obvious.
