The crowd booed loudly as the aircraft emblazoned with “TRUMP”, descended over the Cleveland skyline. When the Texas senator told the audience not to stay home in November, everyone expected an endorsement of the new presidential nominee to follow.
Advertisement
Mike Pence is the headliner on the third night of the Republican National Convention, but the biggest question may be what Ted Cruz will say about his former rival. They had everything to do with antagonism – not excitement – for presidential nominee Donald Trump. “No big deal!” Trump tweeted. The outspoken Trump backer, like Cruz bested by the real estate mogul in the GOP primaries, said the voters made clear that Trump is their choice.”If we’re not going to do that, why do we have elections?” As the chairman of a group of the most conservative members, the Republican Study Committee, Pence was the pebble in then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s shoe.
While the delegates are eager to hear what Pence will continue to say…they also Ted Cruz’s message is key to party unity. “Until now, he’s had to do it all by himself against all odds, but this week, with this united party, he’s got backup”.
Pence finished his speech with two clear allusions to Ronald Reagan, implying that the NY billionaire was the same kind of disruptive, outsider force as the California governor who won the presidency and became a conservative hero.
“On the world stage, Donald Trump will lead from strength”, Pence said, saying his new partner would confront radical Islamic terrorism “at its source” and rebuild the military. King was referring to Reagan’s words after losing the nomination to Gerald Ford only to win the presidency four years later.
But Cruz’s appearance left the arena unsettled for the night’s closing speakers.
Next Eric Trump spoke about how he loved his father, and then Newt Gingrich tried to spin Ted Cruz’s remark – it turned out that what he MEANT by “vote your conscience” was “vote Trump, definitely!” “In this election, there is only one candidate who can uphold the Constitution”.
Cruz’s only mention of Trump during a 25-minute speech at the Republican National Convention was during the first three minutes, when he congratulated Trump on his victory.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s name wasn’t formally placed in nomination even though he was closest to Trump in the primaries.
The delegates took full advantage.
Delegates cheered as Scott said Trump will “rebuild the broken trust that now exists between our citizens and our government, which over the last eight years has brought the rhetoric of hope, but the reality of higher minority unemployment, crime, drug use, with more civil unrest and national distress”.
In indicting both Obama and Clinton as emblematic of the failed establishment, Cruz said the Democrats have failed to address terrorism, illegal immigration and education problems.
Volcanic political forces unleashed by Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party erupted Wednesday in one of most explosive nights of political theater witnessed at a party convention in the modern era.
The gulf between Ohio Republicans and Trump isn’t as wide as people think, said Keith Cheney, a delegate from Lima. Kentucky state Sen. Ralph Alvarado Jr. addressed his fellow Latinos in Spanish, urging them to support Trump.
Advertisement
Pence has denounced negative campaigning, a stark contrast to his running mate, but he vouched for Trump’s decency. Cruz first allied himself with the businessman, banking that Trump’s campaign would collapse and he would be able to scoop up his supporters.
