Presidential candidates typically come out of their conventions looking ahead to the general election and intent on expanding their appeal beyond the partisans who showed up.
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Trump’s plunge into a lengthy litigation of past spats with Ted Cruz – even bringing up his retweet of an unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife, Heidi – did nothing to assuage Republican fears about their standard bearer after a national convention complicated by unforced errors. After Trump secured the nomination, he vowed to campaign for the developer, arguing that all Republicans should work to deny Hillary Clinton the White House.
Pence insisted Thursday morning that Trump would stand our allies despite the comments, but in an interview with Fox News that “those countries must pay their fair share”.
Trump will give his acceptance speech Thursday night.
“I guess NY values are a little bit more loyal than Ted Cruz’s values”, he said, dismissing any idea that the high visibility dispute would damage either the GOP or its nominee.
Susan Hutchison, chair of the Washington delegation, said she confronted Cruz after his speech and called him a “traitor to the party”.
He made an oblique reference to the Republican convention, teasing a member of the audience who expressed support for the recent vote by Britons to leave the European Union. Even veteran gossip columnist Liz Smith has nary a bad word to say about Mrs Trump, calling her a “very, very nice person”. So he knew that was happening and he was a better man about it’.
Referring to the murderous attacks on police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Trump said, “An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans”.
“He was not respectful to the invitation by the convention to come and speak”, Manafort said Thursday on NBC’s “Today”. “This is bigger than any one of us and it’s time for him to be a part of that”.
To Republican delegates and activists, especially those supporting Trump, it’s all a bit baffling. That’s why Trump endorsement or no Trump endorsement, Cruz’s speech was particularly tone deaf.
In many ways, it was a perfectly symbolic moment in an increasingly chaotic and disorderly convention.
Then one of the event’s highlights, a speech by Trump’s wife on Monday night, caused controversy over plagiarism because she used some lines that were similar to passages in an address by first lady Michelle Obama in 2008.
On Wednesday, leading Republicans filling out the primetime lineup sent mixed messages to delegates and television viewers alike.
Other speakers include Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, motivational speaker Brock Mealer, Trump’s daughter Ivanka and Colony Capital CEO Tom Barrack. Others, such as Florida Sen.
Hillary Clinton, who is expected to become the Democratic nominee next week, was not “Crooked Hillary” as Trump has consistently labeled her. She was “my opponent”.
Cruz took a third path: voters should at least show up to support the Republicans farther down the ballot.
“Please, don’t stay home in November”, Cruz said. “Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution”. Many GOP leaders were not happy. “The coup was not successful, and based on the fact, and I give great credit to him for being able to turn that around”, Trump said, according to a Times transcript”.
“Something powerful is happening”, Cruz said.
It is now the true conservative’s job to yell stop in the age of Trump, Cruz argued.
“Now that cloud is lifted off her which was terrific, because I thought it was very unfair”, he said.
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The problem for Trump wasn’t just the lack of an endorsement from Cruz, which raised questions about why Trump – who has campaigned on his extraordinary negotiating skills – allowed Cruz to take stage.
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