Trump has not addressed childcare costs or the gender pay gap so far in his 2016 presidential bid.
Advertisement
Trump prepared for his big night amid another flap over his commitment to US military alliances, including North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
“Don’t stay home in November”, Cruz told the convention hall on Wednesday night, with Trump present.
“Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution”, Gingrich said.
The act of defiance promises to be a defining moment in Cruz’s political career. “I went to Iraq and Afghanistan”.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Ted than tonight”.
He’s also a favorite of Pennsylvania delegates at the GOP Convention.
But the non-endorsement allowed the Texan to avoid muddying his brand by endorsing a nominee that conservatives are deeply skeptical of – and gave cover to those who share Cruz’s reluctance.
Almost a year ago, Donald Trump walked into the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for first Republican debate – an event that drew record television ratings.
Cruz’s non-endorsement made instant history, the culmination of an incredibly bitter primary battle that shows no signs of abating almost three months later.
The Cruz and Trump camps spent the day on Thursday exchanging insults, with Cruz saying he could not endorse a candidate who during the primary campaign had insulted his wife, Heidi, and suggested his father had some role in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“A very strong speech!”.
It seemed Cruz might cave as well. He accused President Barack Obama of inflaming racial tensions rather than calming them. “Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be”.
“Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage”, Trump tweeted, noting that the Texas senator did not fulfill his pledge to support the Republican nominee.
Any veneer of party unity was lost in an instant.
After the speech, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insisted that Cruz’s vague November instructions were really telling voters to pull the lever for Trump.
“I am not a candidate in this race”, he said.
Mr Trump later said he knew Mr Cruz would not endorse him but had let him speak anyway.
Paul Manafort, the chairman of Trump’s campaign, backpedaled when asked about a New York Times interview in which Trump seemed to suggest the US may not honor its defense commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies. But Trump’s campaign has been anything but ordinary. Deb Fischer of Nebraska. The GOP presidential nominee said he’ll also abandon what he calls the “nation building” and “regime change” policies pushed by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state.
But others found hope that Cruz refused to compromise yet again. Trump sparked rumors about Cruz’s wife and father.
The Clinton campaign said Trump’s message to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies was really, “maybe, maybe not”. “How could you support him?”
The Indiana governor was chosen in no small part because he was, well, a safe pick, someone who conservatives in the party could easily embrace as one of their own. “That was a hostile environment he walked into and he stood his ground”.
Cruz first allied himself with the businessman, banking that Trump’s campaign would collapse and he would be able to scoop up his supporters. “In working with Melania Trump on her recent First Lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people”. Appearing via video, Sen. That raised the stakes even higher for what is meant to be Trump’s triumphant turn on the stage Thursday night as he accepts the Republican nomination.
“Middle-income Americans and businesses will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified for everyone”. At his age, with his ambition and with a favorite-son’s delegate base in Texas, Cruz could have as many as half a dozen more runs in him if that’s what it takes. He’d reached the end of his prepared remarks, so the senator then ad-libbed one last line.
Advertisement
“We’ll have two weeks of positive Democratic messaging”, Sellers said in a brief interview on Media Row here. “We will unite the party”.
