If there’s one success metric Donald Trump loves to tout, it’s viewership ratings. But he was in the right. The Texas senator is a straight-up hero.
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Donald Trump says he should have let Ted Cruz be “ripped … off the stage” after his speech at the Republican convention last week in which he famously did not endorse Trump.
Speaking just after the GOP convention and just before the Democratic convention that will nominate Clinton to be his opponent, Trump reaffirmed many of his most contested statements during his party’s get-together in Cleveland. It belonged to the Republican Party, and that’s who Cruz was addressing.
Cruz made a mistake, Trump asserted.
“I walked in and the arena went insane”, Trump said. “When I first read it, I said you know what, first of all, it’s not a very good speech”.
“Look, what’s on my mind is beating Hillary Clinton”, Trump said.
That’s not how Cruz rolls. “Life in politics may be over because people are so angry with him”.
For Cruz, the decision not to endorse was personal.
But like the 35th President’s shocking murder itself, Priebus thinks Trump’s foray into speculative journalism is all in the past.
Hey, congressman, have you met your party’s nominee?
In the end, the Democrats pulled in more viewers throughout the course of their four-night convention than the Republicans had (not counting livestreams or digital views which, in 2016, seems weird).
While Cruz was huddled with his staffers, consultants, funders and other courtiers, the convention had been doing its job, slowly and in fits, but nonetheless, the delegates listening to Cruz and enduring his smirks on the Jumbotron did not understand why he was there wasting their time, if he wasn’t going to join them in electing Trump.
So what if some in the media, or the GOP, don’t like Cruz. “Certainly, Sen. Cruz’s behavior at the convention on Wednesday was disappointing, and he was commenting on Sen”.
I’ve known Cruz for a dozen years, and, while we disagree on some issues, I’m immensely proud of what he did.
And on Sunday NBC’s Meet The Press, Trump said he “will probably” fund a political action committee focused on taking down Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (who has also declined to endorse him) and someone else he wouldn’t name. I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway.
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I guess they hoped the mere thought of such a spectacle would scare Cruz and get him back in line.
