Cruz, the US senator who came in second to Trump in the race for the Republican nomination after a bitter campaign, was booed by delegates at the Cleveland convention on Wednesday night when he refused to endorse Trump in a high-profile speech.
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“It is fair to assume that Vladimir Putin is rooting for a Trump presidency”, said Jake Sullivan, a senior Clinton policy adviser.
Most dramatically, Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s non-endorsement speech Wednesday night made the most electrifying moment of the convention a reminder that much of the Republican base refuses to get behind Trump.
As the crowd, fiercely opposed to Clinton, broke out in its oft-used refrain of “Lock her up”, he waved them off, and instead declared, “Let’s defeat her in November”.
“What was the point of that speech?” he said.
Social media sentiment toward Trump based on tweets that mentioned his name was slightly more negative than positive shortly after his speech.
The Republican National Convention was billed as an event that would show the party unifying behind its presidential nominee.
His 75-minute speech was interrupted at times by an enthusiastic audience chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A” and “build the wall, build the wall”.
Citing a wave of violence in American cities, Trump vowed to restore law and order, warning that 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records “are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens”. Underscoring his unorthodox candidacy, Trump reasserted the hard-line immigration policies that fired up conservatives in the primary but broke with many in his party by promising protections for gays and lesbians.
He said to keep the U.S. safe, it needed to keep its borders secure. He would renegotiate the NAFTA trade accord linking the United States, Canada and Mexico. “Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country”.
“We will never sign bad trade deals”, Trump thundered.
Of course, the Republican presidential candidate himself has the chance to change all that when he appears on stage to accept the party’s nomination today, in what many members of the GOP establishment might be hoping is a complete departure from rhetoric-heavy but details-light performances to date.
“I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves”, Trump said. “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it”.
But Trump’s biggest problem may be among Republicans. “Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims”, Trump said. He blamed her for the rise of Islamic State militants and blasted her willingness to accept thousands of Syrian refugees. “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”, Trump said to big roars from the convention crowd.
Trump was introduced at the convention by his daughter Ivanka, who sought to portray a softer, more compassionate side to her father and highlighted beliefs and policies that at times seemed to come from the Democratic playbook. “But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy”, he said.
He will tell Americans that he will speedily address the crime and violence that has dominated headlines. “Beginning on January 20 (Inauguration Day), safety will be restored”. All those positions go against prevailing Republican beliefs.
“Together we will lead our party back to the White House and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace”, Trump said. Ivanka also stated her father was a champion of equal pay, but according to an investigation by the Boston Globe, Trump’s campaign pays women 35 percent less than it pays men. I have seen him fight for his employees. Yet he also accused her of “terrible, awful crimes” and said her greatest achievement may have been avoiding prison for her use of a private email and personal server as secretary of state.
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Trump’s text of his speech, released by his campaign, included extensive footnotes to show where the material originated.
