Anti-Trump protesters burned an American flag and were arrested outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
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Trump’s campaign disputed those allegations but offered no clear explanation for what happened. “That is not going to get us to unify”, said Manette Merrill, a Cruz delegate from Washington state. “That is a profound victory and it is one earned by each and every one of you”.
“He showed a great amount of disrespect to the overwhelming amount of people that voted for our nominee, Donald Trump, the most in the history of any primary”, Arnold said. He said he was “thrilled” that Cruz didn’t endorse Trump, but acknowledged that there was a “big divide” in the Texas delegation on the convention floor.
Cruz did tell his supporters he wanted to see unity in the Republican Party and that the way to do that was “unite behind shared principles, us to unite in defense of liberty and for us to empower the grass roots”. “And for us to empower the grassroots”. Roe, who managed Cruz’s ’16 bid, said the senator is spending some $100k in Cleveland this week to “maintain a presence”, according to Bloomberg. “You take them from the political appointee side into the civil service side, in order to try to set up. roadblocks for your successor, kind of like when all the Clinton people took all the Ws off the keyboard when George Bush was coming into the White House”.
Instead, he greeted his supporters at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame close to the convention arena to the blaring tune of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” with lyrics like, “I don’t need to fight to prove I’m right”. He finished a distant second in the delegate accumulation during the Republican nominating process. With an eye toward 2020, Cruz’s team drafted a convention speech focusing on adherence to the Constitution, a calling card for conservatives and a perceived contrast with Trump.
The conservative firebrand said he was too anxious he’d choke up.
“You just stepped on your best act”, Whitmer said. “And we had 50 TV cameras there, and I’ll tell you, I wasn’t going to let those SOBs turn Lyin’ Ted into Cryin’ Ted”. Then the area was pushed further – with people unable to enter the convention area for a short time. Ted Cruz isn’t scheduled to appear publicly at the Republican National Convention until Wednesday evening.
When asked whether Cruz’s speech was setting the stage for a potential run in 2020, Roe demurred.
Besides his prime-time speech, Cruz plans to hold a delegate appreciation event Wednesday, and address the Texas delegation Thursday.
“One of the things I have suggested to Donald is that we have to immediately ask the Republican Congress to change the civil service laws”.
Roe noted that Cruz did not prewrite his speech.
He used his convention speech as the foundation for a fundraising email for his Senate campaign: “Will you stand with me by making an immediate donation $5, $10, $25, or whatever you can afford today?” “That wasn’t a written speech”.
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Should Trump lose, King said of Cruz, the speech will be “the marker for him as front-runner” for 2020. Cruz was more successful in such contests than in ones also open to voters who aren’t registered Republicans. “We really love him and [his wife] Heidi and all they have done to serve our country and, again, we’re sad he wasn’t the nominee, but we’ll now work to get Donald Trump in the Oval Office”.
