Ted Cruz spoke to members of the Texas delegation Thursday to discuss his speech the previous night at the Republican National Convention.
Advertisement
IL delegates to the Republican National Convention are divided about the impact of the approach Texas Sen.
Donna Robinson, an alternate delegate from Marengo and a Cruz supporter, said the Texas senator’s decision not to deliver an anticipated “soft endorsement” was a big disappointment in a night at the convention that otherwise was “pretty doggone awesome”. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for president, said his wife correctly predicted that Trump would pick Pence, “a longtime family friend”.
Cruz declined to endorse Trump Wednesday night and was booed by the arena crowd when he urged Republicans to “vote your conscience”. It’s because he has no choice.
Trump told the New York Times on Wednesday that “if we can not be properly reimbursed for the tremendous cost of our military protecting other countries [then] yes, I would be absolutely prepared to tell those countries, ‘Congratulations, you will be defending yourself'”.
That “talk” was perhaps the most dramatic moment of the GOP’s four-day convention, where Cruz, dormant since ending his campaign in early May, reignited the personal feud between the top two finishers in the Republican primaries.
His none-too-subtle message landed like a political hand grenade in a convention already marred by an opening day floor revolt by anti-Trump delegates and alleged plagiarism by Trump’s wife.
“I’m not going to get into criticizing or attacking Donald Trump, but I’ll give you this response: I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father”, Cruz said, adding that those attacks had negated his pledge to back the eventual GOP nominee.
The likelihood of such a reversal from Cruz appeared to dim Friday, as Trump proclaimed during a boisterous speech to supporters that he wouldn’t even accept an endorsement from Cruz at this point. “That was bad”, said Trump delegate Cynthia Schaffer of Tinley Park. “I think it’s an excellent ticket”, Price added.
“I think (she’s) the best thing he’s got going and his kids if you want to know the truth.” he continued during the almost 15-minute ramble about Cruz.
But in an interview with PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff, Pence, the governor of in, and Trump’s newly selected running mate, seemed to interpret Trump’s comments differently. As for Cruz’s father, Trump cited a National Enquirer story linking Cruz’s father to Lee Harvey Oswald.
Advertisement
“Ted Cruz tried to blow it up”, Sen. They’re not saying, ‘Oh that wasn’t really my father.’ It was a little hard to do.
