It’s been a rocky road to Cleveland for Donald Trump’s former GOP rivals.
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What made Cruz’s “vote your conscience” line not just a moment but a big moment were the loud boos that greeted him from pro-Trump delegates-on orders from the Trump campaign-who were infuriated by the perceived slight of the GOP presidential nominee.
Trump chided Cruz in a Twitter post Thursday morning.
“If you love our country and love your children. stand and speak and vote your conscience”, Cruz told the crowd. Ted Cruz’s theatrics at the Republican convention, calling them “inconsequential” as the party heads into the general election battle with Hillary Clinton. But the booing and atrocious treatment Cruz and his wife received after the speech made Cruz’s remarks seem downright courageous.
At one point, a delegate emotionally told Cruz that he could unify the party, and encouraged Cruz to recognize the consequences of his decision. They were yelling “We want Trump!”.
Cruz said he will be “watching and listening” but won’t “sit down, shut up, support the team”. Some weren’t sure if they would be able to vote for Cruz when he is up for re-election in 2018.
Eric Trump, one of the candidate’s sons, called Cruz “classless” for refusing to use his prime-time convention speech to honor the pledge he signed during the primaries to back the eventual nominee. “Unite us all behind shared values”.
“You have to be grown up about it”, said Farias, who supported Cruz in the 2012 Senate race and Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential primary.
Cruz is eager to be seen as the face of the modern conservative movement should there be an open GOP field in four years, and he said Wednesday afternoon he was unsure what the future would bring.
When delegates from NY loudly urged Cruz from the convention floor to “say it” – referring to endorsing Trump – the Texas senator only responded: “I appreciate the enthusiasm of the NY delegation”.
A top Republican National Committee official said Thursday he agreed with Rep. Peter King’s assertion that Sen. “I think the convention will appear to be greatly united”, McConnell told CNN.
On Wednesday night, more than 2,000 delegates at the Quicken Loans Arena waited for Cruz to say something – anything – kind about Trump, but he demurred. “This is not politics”, Cruz added.
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Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Trump surrogate who followed Cruz in the line-up, attempted to defend the Texan’s statements to angry delegates on the convention floor.
