→ THE RUNDOWN
- Former rival of Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz was roundly booed after failing to endorse Trump during an address to the Republican National Convention
- Cruz told delegates and voters to “vote your conscience” in November and never specifically said that people should cast their ballots for the Republican nominee
- Cruz only mentioned Trump when congratulating him on getting the nomination
- “To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November. If you love our country, and love your children as much as I know you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution,” Cruz said
- When the crowd realize that Cruz endorsing Trump seemed less likely, the cheers transformed into boos
- During the boos, Cruz paused for a moment, “I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation,” Cruz mentioned as they were chanting “We want Trump! We want Trump!”
- As the boos started getting very loud, Cruz’s wife, Heidi, was seen exiting the arena
- Trump supporters were physically approaching Heidi Cruz and confrontationally yelling, according to Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who escorted her out of the arena, according to ABC News
→ MORE IN DEPTH
- “Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution. In this election, there’s only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution,” Former House Speaker Newty Gingrich said. “So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz: if you want to protect the Constitution, the only candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence Republican ticket”
- People on the floor were seen on the live stream chanting “Endorse Trump! Endorse Trump!”
- In the midst of Cruz addressing the recent shootings, the crowd chanted interrupting his speech, which was not only rude for the victim’s families, but to Cruz
- Trump did not comment on the chanting
- Rumors are surfacing that Cruz had been given a platform to attempt his own version of Ronald Reagan’s famous 1976 convention speech, setting up to run for president four years later. Allegations state that Cruz has plans to run for the office of the president in 2020
- Gov Christie on Ted Cruz: “Awful, selfish speech … showed himself tonight to not be a man of his word”
- Sources say security had to step in after a man in a donor suite had to be restrained from assaulting Ted Cruz after his speech
- Heidi Cruz was approached by hardcore Trump supporters, calling her husband a “traitor”
- Trump tweeted shortly after the speech “Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn’t honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!”
→ TRUMP VS CRUZ
- Donald Trump compared Ted Cruz to the Zodiac Killer
- Trump insulted Cruz’s wife, stating she was less attractive than his own wife
- Cruz called Trump a “sniveling coward” after the insults surfaced on Twitter regarding his wife
- Trump nicknamed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted”
- Trump suggested that Cruz’s Cuban father was somehow connected to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
- Trump questioned whether Cruz was eligible to run for the presidency because he was born in Canada
→ WRITERS OPINION
- The address was great, and nothing less than what should’ve been expected from a former running mate
- People seem to forget that Trump belittled Cruz’s wife and ran a harsh campaign against Cruz
- Cruz could’ve been harder on Trump during his address, but kept it professional
- The fact that the crowd interrupted him during the segment of the shootings was completely uncalled for and extremely disrespectful. The crowd needs to understand at this point it doesn’t matter much about endorsements, given that Trump is the nominee
- Trump saw the speech hours before he took the stage & didn’t care that he wasn’t being endorsed, according to his tweet
- His tweet mentions that it’s “no big deal” – yet, he also said he “didn’t honor the pledge” & of course that he was “booed off stage,” if it wasn’t a big deal, why mention that & not simply state that Ted’s speech was good, or better yet not tweet at all?