Hillary Clinton is poised to unveil her choice of a running mate as soon as Friday via a text message to supporters, according to a person familiar with the plans, as she seeks to recapture the attention of voters following a week in which Donald Trump and the Republican Party dominated the news.
Advertisement
On Wednesday those doubts were laid bare when Trump’s primary rival and conservative flag-bearer Ted Cruz pointedly refused to endorse him.
A chant of “Endorse Trump” began but Cruz plowed on. On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump and his oldest daughter, Ivanka, did a walk through on the stage at the Quicken Loans Arena.
The latest diversion landed Thursday morning in an interview in which Trump declared he would set new conditions before coming to the aid of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
In an interview published Thursday by The New York Times, Donald Trump said he might tell North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries that can’t pay their dues “Congratulations, you will be defending yourself”.
“A big middle finger to this entire convention“, said Shaun Ireland, a Texas delegate, just minutes later on the convention floor. “This is the worst possible thing he could have done”. After pledging to support whoever is emerged as the Republican nominee, many GOP loyalist see Cruz as a hypocrite for his stance on Trump.
Back in September, Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin hit Cruz’s “exaggerated, artificial speaking style”. “I don’t know if Donald can keep that out of him”, said Gilmore.
After Trump’s remarks, the White House said the United States has an “ironclad” commitment to mutual defence among the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
The announcement would come three days before Democrats open their national convention in Philadelphia, a chance for the party to showcase the themes and messages that will be the foundation for Clinton’s campaign to win the White House in November.
“Tonight is really one of the defining moments probably of his life and he’s taking it very, very seriously”, he said.
At a Republican primary debate in January, Cruz derisively said Trump “embodies NY values”.
“I think he took a principled stand and I respect him for that”.
The presidential nominee’s acceptance speech is nearly always the most important event at a convention because it allows a nominee to speak directly to a huge swath of the electorate.
Cruz took a third path: voters should at least show up to support the Republicans farther down the ballot.
“To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November. The standard that I apply is, which candidate do I trust to defend the Constitution?” said Cruz.
“It would have been the easiest thing in the world to turn tail and run”, said Cruz as part of the crowd rose to their feet in applause.
In his RNC speech, he congratulated Trump on winning the primary, but did not go one step further to give a full endorsement.
“It’s not going to ruin Ted Cruz’s career – we hope”, Texas delegate Jeneria Lewis said.
Cruz said he had been very clear about his intention to the Trump campaign, even telling Trump he would not endorse him in a conversation before the convention and letting the campaign read his speech hours before it was delivered. “This is not politics”, Cruz added. Trump repeatedly and mercilessly called Cruz a liar.
“You see this room when people like to make the story and create the dialogue about disunity”, Trump Jr. said. He predicted a “disaster” if Trump became the party’s nominee. He did not, however, endorse Trump.
Once again, Trump explained, “The answer has to be “yes” or I would not have done it…” And the party embraced them then with the same fervor it did when the tea party energized Republicans in opposition to President Obama in 2010 and when the base handed the presidential nomination six years later to a man who ran an openly racist, xenophobic and nativist campaign. He did say he would not vote for Clinton. “In this election, there is only one candidate who would uphold the Constitution”.
Advertisement
“Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad”.
