Cruz Stands Firm, Defends Decision Not To Endorse Trump
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
CLEVELAND (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz is defiant in his decision not to endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
A CBS 11 News crew is in Cleveland and spent part of the morning inside the lobby of the Texas delegation hotel. At a meeting, the group remained deeply divided about the Texas senator's action or inaction.
As some delegates challenged Cruz, the lawmaker said the easy thing to do would be to turn tail and run but that he wasn't going to let that happen. While not directly tossing his hat in the ring for Trump Cruz said, "Newt [Gingrich] said Donald Trump is the only candidate that meets that standard [of defending freedom]. . Trump this morning Cruz said, "I'll tell ya this: If we want to win this election, that's the only way we're winning this election."
The crowd responded to Cruz' comments by chanting Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump!
During a pause for questions one delegate stood and told Cruz, "You can unite this party like no other man in this party, even more than our candidate, by using just a few words and we need to do it now. We cannot do that in November."
Cruz responded, "I will have to confess, what you said would be easy to do. [But] whether you want me to or not, I am not going to lie to you."
The Texas Senator went on to acknowledge that he couldn't endorse Trump because the New York billionaire had attacked his wife Heidi and his father Rafael. "I'm not going to get into criticizing or attacking Donald Trump, but I'll give you this response: I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," he said.
While both were still in the race for the White House, Trump nicknamed Cruz, "Lyin' Ted", implied that his father somehow connected to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy. As for Cruz' wife, in addition to tweeting to the Texas Senator "Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump also criticized Heidi Cruz' appearance in a tweet that had side-by-side photos of Mrs. Cruz and his own wife Melania, who is a former model.
After the meeting with the Texas delegation emotions boiled over in the hallway, as Cruz's loyal defenders and his new critics debated the controversy.
Some people, like supporter Maggie Wright, said Cruz made a pledge to back the nominee and he should have kept it. "It's like an engagement… you have a right to break an engagement."
Another delegate disagreed saying that Cruz' dissention would benefit Democrats. "A vote that is not for Trump is a vote for Hillary," he said. When another delegate argued that Cruz had not told Republicans not to vote for Trump the man said, "He didn't say not to vote for Trump, but what he's doing is divisive."
When asked if he was going to vote for Trump, Cruz only said that he wasn't voting for Hillary Clinton and wasn't staying home in November.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
