“Donald will betray his supporters on every issue”, the Texas senator added, while calling Trump “utterly amoral”, “a narcissist”, “a bully”, and “a serial philanderer”, among other things. Most refused to accept jobs with the Trump campaign when offered following Cruz’s departure from the primary campaign this spring.
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Another GOP source said Friday that should Trump “graciously accept” Cruz’s support – he said during the convention that he would not – “it could bring in the Cruz diehards” to the Republican nominee’s side.
But announcing his political support for Trump – who attempted to link Cruz’s father to John F. Kennedy’s assassination and retweeted an attack on his wife’s looks – may also compromise the principled position that conservatives who reject Trump praised Cruz for.
At the same time, the large staff that worked on Cruz’s presidential bid pushed him not to endorse. And as recently as this week, some warned they would not work for Cruz again if he officially endorsed Trump.
During the campaign, Trump habitually referred to his rival as “Lyin’ Ted”. At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, Cruz was booed off the stage by Trump supporters after advising Republicans to “vote their conscience” and failing to offer support for the NY businessman.
The move marks a dramatic turnaround from the personal insults Cruz and Trump traded during the previous year. “And if you don’t want to see a Hillary Clinton presidency, I encourage you to vote for him”.
The next day, he defended the move by citing Trump’s attacks against his family.
“Well, I think he’s a guy who has been an entrepreneurial guy”, Eric Trump told Fox News on Friday after being asked about his father’s outreach to millennial voters. “And you know I started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars”.
Facing Senate primary in 2018?
Cruz was facing intensifying political pressure to back his party’s presidential nominee after refusing to do so at the Republican National Convention this summer. Trump said Perry would do well, though Trump said he didn’t know whether Perry would run.
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Radio host Steve Deace tweeted his disappointment, calling the move a mistake and speculating that Cruz backers may not all follow the senator. “The people will decide that”.
