Share

Ted Cruz Booed Off Convention Stage After Refusing to Endorse Trump

A day after being booed off the Republican National Convention stage, Texas Sen.

Advertisement

It wasn’t something he said. And he promised not to say anything bad about Trump, noting that the two men had spoken three days earlier and that Trump knew well in advance that the speech would not amount to an endorsement.

Anti-Trump Republican delegate Ken Cuccinelli told Reuters he escorted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, off the floor of the Republican National Convention out of concern for her safety. But her speech was quickly subsumed by the plagiarism charges, overshadowing almost all of the campaign’s other messaging.

During the Thursday morning breakfast, the Texas delegation grilled Cruz about why he’s not supporting Trump. The real estate mogul also retweeted an unflattering photo of his wife, Heidi Cruz, and suggested Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, played a part in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

It was a major new chapter in the story that Washington delegates have been talking about all week.

-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the villain looming large throughout the RNC, immediately used Cruz’s key line to exploit the GOP’s disunity on Twitter, tweeting, “Vote your conscience”, with a link to her website.

Mike Pence’s acceptance speech as Trump’s running mate was overshadowed as a result, one more missed opportunity at a convention with a daily drip of them.

On Wednesday night, he emerged in the convention hall while Cruz was still speaking, a move that appeared meant to steal some attention away from the senator.

Delegate Braedon Wilkerson of Olympia has been outspoken about his opposition to Trump.

This was Trump’s first public reaction to the controversy that erupted after his wife’s Monday night speech, although he normally responds to things nearly immediately on Twitter. Hutchison said she did not think security got involved.

Competing passions were sharply on display Wednesday night when Trump’s fiercest primary rival, Ted Cruz, stopped far short of endorsing the nominee and drew loud boos.

So the Cruz speech makes Hutchison’s job much more hard.

It now seems unlikely that Republicans will quickly unite behind Trump after the spectacle that has been this convention.

But when a big chunk of the party’s conservative base rejects the nominee at the convention, that’s a pretty big deal.

In a surreal moment, Trump unexpectedly walked into the arena as Cruz was wrapping up his remarks.

The most important speech of his presidential campaign will bring down the balloons Thursday night on a convention marked by divided loyalties and unwanted distractions.

In one example, Mrs. Trump said: “From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect”.

But as it turned out, not so much. The night before, Donald Trump had officially received the Republican Party’s nomination for president, putting to an end that leaky pipe dream of some conservatives.

But it’s not all high drama and political intrigue at the convention. Outside the convention hall, vendors are selling lewd T-shirts and buttons mocking her.

“It’s worth Donald Trump’s time to pay attention to the state of Utah”, Perry said.

And so many buttons: One has a picture of Donald Trump, and right above that there’s a pig with a baby’s head on it.

Advertisement

Cleveland police have arrested 18 protesters after scuffling with demonstrators who tried to set an American flag on fire near the crowded entrance to the arena where Republicans made Donald Trump their presidential nominee.

Politics       After Being Booed Off Stage Cruz Explains Why He Didn’t Endorse Trump                by Aaron Rupar Jul 21 2016 10:00