Cruz told his fellow Texans Thursday that, aside from overcoming the family attacks, he needed to see more from Trump’s policy agenda to sway him to vote for his former rival.
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Some of the delegates continued to applaud Cruz’s talking points, but others broke into cheers of “USA, USA”, after one of the delegates, Geraldine Sam of Lamarque, Texas, demanded to know why Cruz pledged to support the eventual nominee, but now refuses to do so. “And, yes, build a wall”, Cruz said as the crowd chanted “build the wall”.
As reporters in the hall noted, Trump supporters, led by the NY delegation directly in front of the stage, chanted for Cruz to endorse Trump, yelled “say it!” and heckled and booed him when he did not.
“To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November”, Cruz said.
“Anytime you stand up, leadership screams, support the team, you’re a Republican, we’re the leadership, sit down, shut up”, Cruz said. “And, I have to say, it was somewhat dismaying that apparently some of Donald’s biggest partisans, when they heard you should vote for someone you can trust, defend the Constitution, they immediately began booing”.
The crowd’s boos quickly switched to cheers when Trump entered the arena at that moment.
Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, sought to put the Cruz appearance in a positive light, telling reporters on Thursday that the booing of Cruz increased party unity, “in a backhanded way”.
Of all the candidates burned by Donald Trump, none suffered worse than Texas Senator Ted Cruz. I literally could not believe [Cruz] didn’t endorse Trump.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who spoke at the convention Tuesday night, ripped into Cruz, calling his action “totally selfish” NJ.com reported. But Cruz, who posed the strongest challenge to Trump in the primaries, stopped short of endorsing the real estate mogul. “I wasn’t disappointed because I didn’t expect great things out of Ted Cruz tonight”, she said.
At the Cleveland convention, Cruz had suggested that people vote their “conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution”. McIver said she wrote down the passages and later included them in the speech.
Cruz halted his campaign two months ago, having outlasted all but Trump in a field that once numbered 17 candidates. He finished a distant second in the delegate accumulation during the Republican nominating campaign.
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Cruz’ actions drew condemnation from Republicans, who questioned whether the senator had torpedoed his political future. “Oh, my gosh, I hope he runs again”, said Metz, of Eudora, Kansas. A lot of politicians like to give speeches where they say we are at a crossroads. Yet, like Trump, Cruz has a devoted following, who certainly ate this speech up. Until Wednesday night, the main theme of the Republican National Convention has been that being afraid of or angry about Hillary Clinton is what makes one a Republican.
