Cruz aide Jason Johnson said the Texas lawmaker told Trump in a phone conversation two days ago that he would not endorse him during his speech, a decision New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called “totally selfish”.
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The headline from Cruz’s speech: he didn’t endorse Donald Trump and he was booed as he walked off the stage.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm of the NY delegation”, Cruz ad libbed when delegates from Trump’s home state began shouting for an endorsement.
But the rebukes steadily grew louder, and the Texas senator was shouted off the stage.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., looks over the convention floor during a sound check before the third day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
As this transpired, Trump made a surprise appearance in the arena, waving and smiling and shaking hands as he was escorted up to a suite.
Unlike other Texans who became Trump bandwagoneers after bad-mouthing him – we’re looking at you Rick Perry – Cruz declined, at least for now, to fall in line with a candidate he battled bitterly through primary season. “My fellow conservatives, it’s time for us to come together”.
Controversy over Melania Trump’s Monday evening speech still hung over the convention.
Instead of endorsing Trump, Cruz urged Americans to go to the polls this year and vote their conscience.
McIver has worked on some of Mr. Trump’s books, including How to Get Rich and Think Like a Billionaire.
We’re halfway through the Republican National Convention, and with any semblance of doubt about who will be the standard-bearer for the GOP put to rest Tuesday night (Trump officially claimed the nomination in the roll call vote), the party turns its eyes to November. “So to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to protect the Constitution of the United States, the only possible candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence Republican ticket”.
At that point, the audience seemed to believe he might say “and vote for Donald Trump”.
Cruz, who as a Tea Party conservative in the U.S. Senate spearheaded tactics that led to a government shutdown over the federal budget, called the NY real estate developer a “serial philanderer” and a “narcissist” during the campaign.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another former Trump rival, will address delegates by video, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also will speak. Patton, who is black, said she was proud to support Trump “not just in spite of the color of my skin, but in fact because of the color of my skin”.
He issued no such endorsement, merely imploring conservatives “not to stay home in November”.
“I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches”.
Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, headlined Wednesday’s event.
The Secret Service is investigating a prominent Donald Trump supporter from New Hampshire who said in a radio interview that Clinton should be “shot for treason”.
Mrs. Trump was the first in the family to address the convention, warmly casting her husband as kind and loyal. “And yes, builds a wall to keep us safe”, Cruz said.
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“After a long and spirited journey, the time for fighting each other is over”, Rubio said. He’ll also follow a speech from Lynne Patton, who’s vice president of The Eric Trump Foundation.
