As he appeared on stage, Cruz basked in a minute-long standing ovation. Cruz, who endured Trump mocking his wife’s appearance and accusing his father of being involved in the JFK assassination, will have a lot to navigate in this speech: his own personal political ambitions, the scars from his personal scuffles with Trump, and the party’s overarching pleas for GOP unity.
Advertisement
Babcock said the alternative to Trump is presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and predicted a Clinton presidency would spell “doom and gloom” for Alaska. That is if the delegates for Texas Sen.
Cruz, in winning the poll, picked up 12 Alaska delegates.
Cruz was not expected to offer a full-throated endorsement in his speech, nor to rock the boat too much, given that his remarks were being vetted by Trump’s people. “These votes had nothing to do with Trump”, he said.
“If we’re not going to do that, why do we have elections?” Ted Cruz, a defeated presidential hopeful. “If he’s voting that’s the signal”, he said.
Those boos underscore more serious struggles ahead in the party – first, over whether it will turn out for Trump in November.
Cruz has not endorsed Trump despite pleas for party unity from the campaign and senior GOP officials, and there was no sign he would change his position. But they were badly outnumbered by Trump delegates and party regulars who believed, like him or not, he’d won this year’s GOP primaries.
Cruz’s inner circle had adamantly opposed any attempt to involve him in last minute convention floor intrigue, a senior adviser to the Texas senator told CNN.
To chants of “2020, 2020”, Republican Sen.
Donna Metz, Cruz’s 2016 Kansas state co-chairwoman, wore a sparkling red, white and blue hat and was jostled in the crowd as she made her way toward Cruz.
“I respect that process”, Perez said. “He’s by far the best candidate”.
“We have gotten off course and the American people know it”, Sessions said in his speech, warning that crime is rising, terrorist attacks are proliferating, and Congress is deadlocked, arguing that Trump is the only answer.
But he urged the group to “follow our conscience”, “unite behind liberty” and “empower the grassroots” – all signals to the deep organization Cruz assembled in finishing second to Trump to be ready to jump back into action in four years.
Advertisement
Cruz revealed after he delivered his concession speech and suspended his campaign he wanted to stay and hug each and every supporter that attended, however he was so emotionally distraught he didn’t have the strength to do so. An effort to have the vote recorded also failed, leaving anti-Trump Republicans feeling mistreated.
