CLEVELAND — Ted Cruz says he won’t vote for Hillary Clinton, but he’s not promising to endorse Donald Trump, “like a servile puppy.”
The Texas senator was heckled Thursday morning as he spoke to his home state delegation to the Republican National Convention.
He says he’ll “watching and listening” but won’t “sit down, shut up, support the team.” Cruz adds that he doesn’t intend to “throw rocks” at Trump, but he’s not ready to endorse him.
He adds that, “We either stand for shared principles or we’re not worth anything.”
Cruz and Trump have significant bad political blood between them. Trump nicknamed him, “Lyin’ Ted” and implied that Cruz’s father, Raphael, had a connection to President John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Trump also criticized the appearance of Cruz’s wife, Heidi.
He adds, “I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father.”
Cruz was booed offstage during his address to the GOP convention Wednesday night when it became clear that his speech would not include an endorsement of Trump.
Cruz told delegates Wednesday night at the GOP convention to vote their conscience, but he did not endorse nominee Donald Trump. Trump said on Twitter that Cruz “didn’t honor” the pledge the Republican primary candidates had made to support the eventual nominee.
Donald Trump’s top adviser said former rival Ted Cruz “used very bad judgment” when he addressed the GOP convention without endorsing its presidential nominee.
Paul Manafort told NBC’s “Today” Thursday that Trump invited his primary opponents to address the convention in Cleveland because “he views the primary process as over.” Convention delegates formally nominated Trump on Tuesday.
Manafort added that the Republican Party is coming together, despite the Texas senator’s failure to endorse Trump during his primetime address late Wednesday.
But he believes Cruz “used very bad judgment,” adding that “he was not respectful to the invitation by the convention to come and speak.”
Manafort said that Cruz “understood what the responsibilities are, someone in his position.”
Trump says no endorsement from Cruz is “no big deal.”
Check back for further details as they develop.
