When North Carolina Republican Chairman Robin Hayes asked fellow delegate Ted Hicks Thursday what he thought of the convention speech by Texas Sen.
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“You lied to me”, she said.
But he was startled by Hayes’ reply.
He referred to Trump attacking his relatives during the primaries: he shared a social-media post insulting Cruz’s wife’s looks, spread a National Enquirer article about marital infidelity, and insinuated Cruz’s father may have been linked to JFK’s assassination. “Republicans, Democrats and independents who helped build North Atlantic Treaty Organisation into the most successful military alliance in history would all come to the same conclusion: Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit and fundamentally ill-prepared to be our commander in chief”.
Quote of the day “I’m not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father” – Ted Cruz at a morning-after briefing explaining his refusal to endorse Trump in his convention speech on Wednesday night. Hutchison said she didn’t recall Cruz’s response. “It was very self-serving”. Trump paused as the woman was escorted off the convention floor before resuming his remarks. McIver said she later included the passages in the speech she wrote for Mrs. Trump.
“He went back on a promise he made”. And it’s probably better for him if voters don’t know what he doesn’t know – in a recent interview, for instance, he said he’d back off the United States’ commitment to protect its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies in the event they are attacked. Cruz did congratulate Trump and later told people to “vote your conscience” in 2016. There is no pretense of graciousness or ‘let’s just defeat Hillary Clinton.’ Cruz basically just called Trump a bad person, and he’s letting people decide what to do with that.
Cruz says he sees his speech last night as a “road map” for how to win in November, adding that if the message of the party is more about freedom than it is about Trump, the GOP will prevail.
Donald Trump’s address Thursday on the convention’s final day will cap a roller-coaster 13 months since the freewheeling business mogul announced his bid for president, took over the Republican Party and became its unlikely nominee.
“Listen, I think there was a lot of malignment”.
“Hopefully, somewhere along the lines he’ll step up”, Harmon said.
Alternate delegate Eric Morgan also backed Cruz in the primary and had hoped his first choice candidate’s speech would help unify the party in the interest of getting a Republican in the White House. As he wound down his speech, a storm of boos erupted.
Ted Cruz has been conspicuously silent since his return to Capitol Hill from the campaign trail, but the gears, as always, are turning. At the very least, he has a chance to grab the spotlight back from his former rival and begin appearing more presidential. Don’t come out on stage if you don’t want to be supportive, ‘ he said. “I think if he just strikes a positive note of unity.he will have the full support of the rank and file of the Republican Party”.
The more cautious strategy would have been to endorse Trump as some others have done this week, because if Trump loses by a small margin, Cruz could find himself with even fewer friends in the party than he has now, as many Republicans would no doubt argue that his personal petulance and anger toward Trump contributed to a narrow loss. It’s principles over party….
Pence praised Trump as his own man, an independent spirit, and said change in the country will be “huge” under his presidency.
Hayes said he was justified. Cruz also told voters pointedly to “vote your conscience”. “You don’t get many moments in life like that one, and so I mean he gave up the best moment but that wasn’t the only moment”. “Other views are certainly welcome, but … it’s my right to decide who flies home with me”.
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Asked if he didn’t leave the two delegates in a lurch as far as their travel plans, Hayes said he didn’t. “I did them a favor to bring them up here”.
