Donald Trump tore into his former Republican rival Ted Cruz after the Texas senator’s convention speech Wednesday night – blasting him for “not honoring the pledge” to endorse the party’s nominee.
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It also raised questions about why the Trump campaign invited Cruz to speak – in a headlining role, no less – without getting him to agree to an endorsement.
Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence knew coming into Wednesday night that he was virtually unknown to the majority of the American people. “I get that you want to talk about Kasich, but everybody needed to be watching what was going on there”.
Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, said: “When the speech ended, there was an ugly crowd behind us”.
Later, he said: “And, to those listening, please don’t stay home in November”.
For three days running the convention’s intended message of the day got sideswiped by unwelcome developments – a biting if short-lived scrap over rules during the opening, a storm over plagiarism in Melania Trump’s speech that spilled into Wednesday, then Cruz’s performance from the stage.
After two nights of mostly low-energy speeches, the crowd packed into the arena was noticeably more energetic Wednesday night, dancing in the aisles and waving signs reading, “America Deserves Better Than Hillary”.
At the time Pence applied to become a delegate, she never imagined her brother-in-law would be Trump’s running mate. While he backed some of Trump’s policy proposals, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, he mentioned the GOP nominee by name only once.
Pence had the crowd cheering after an unprecedented convention uproar caused an hour earlier by Texas. Sen.
Campaign manager Paul Manafort predicted before the speech that Cruz would leave no doubt he wanted Trump to be president. There was little opposition on the floor as delegates cast votes for Trump state by state.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a runner-up for Trump’s vice presidential pick, will also speak, along with his wife, Callista. “In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution”. “Republican strategist Eric Fehrnstrom, who is not affiliated with any campaign, tweeted: “‘Vote your conscience’ was the rallying cry of the Never Trump movement.
Doubling down on the puns, while laying out the basic Republican platform, Pence said, “Donald Trump digs coal”. Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, was heckled by Trump supporters shouting “Goldman Sachs!” and escorted out by security. In fact, yesterday, Pence said that Trump is ‘a builder, a fighter, a father and a patriot.’ That’s pretty high praise right there, but Pence wasn’t finished.
“The American people are exhausted of being told this is as good as it gets”, Pence remarked in his address.
On a night traditionally reserved for the number-two person on the ticket, it was the number-two finisher in the GOP primary, Ted Cruz, who headlined the activity inside Quicken Loans Arena, inciting a karaoke chorus of boos with remarks that encouraged Republicans to vote their conscience.
“He is a man known for having a large personality, a colorful style, and lots of charisma”, Pence said of Trump.
Sheldon Adelson, a major Republican Party donor, even denied Cruz entry to his personal suite after his speech, according to CNN and BuzzFeed.
The most important speech of his presidential campaign will bring down the balloons on a convention marked by divided loyalties and unwanted distractions as well as full-throated roars against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Clinton has “a tortured relationship to the truth”. McIver said she wrote down the passages and later included them in the speech.
The final night of the convention, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, is Trump’s night. “You’re kind of doing it. You’re kind of looking around to see if anyone else is doing it”, he told Reuters.
Trump and Cruz have had a complicated relationship throughout the presidential campaign.
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There were no arrests, police said, despite several tense moments that saw officers step in between protesters pushing and shouting at each other during some of the biggest, most raucous gatherings in downtown Cleveland since the four-day convention began on Monday.
