Politics –
Ted Cruz Speech Ruins
The Trump Party
Donald Trump may have gotten the best of “Lyin’ Ted” during the GOP primaries, but Ted Cruz had the last laugh with the slick primetime speech he delivered to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
.
Politics
Ted was invited to speak at the RNC to prove that Donald Trump is indeed a uniter and the party is 100% unified behind their nominee — except it didn’t quite turn out that way. Early in his remarks, Ted Cruz congratulated Trump for winning the Republican nomination…and then never mentioned his name again!
Cruz wound through his lengthy remarks by discussing conservatism, the recent shooting attacks against police and more. Then, just as Trump supporters were getting antsy, Ted went in for the kill.
“If you love our country and love your children as much as I know that you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience,” Cruz said. “Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
His words were no accident. Â Ted didn’t say “vote for Trump.” Â He said “vote your conscience,” prompting a sea of boos from the crowd mixed with actual Trump supporters and those who were at least willing to pretend they were too in the name of party unity.
At that point, Ted’s clever attempt to sabotage the Trump party was interrupted by “The Donald” himself, who emerged from backstage and started waving to the crowd so as to steal his former rival’s thunder. However, Cruz was undeterred and delivered the remainder of his remarks calmly, as boos rained down on him from every angle and Trump did everything in his power to draw the attention to himself and away from Ted on the stage.
Needless to say, it was one of the more tense and exciting moments of a very dull week.
Politics
Following his remarks, Ted Cruz was grinning like a Cheshire cat and happily headed up to a Republican donor suite, where he was met with even more boos, shouts and angry jeers. In fact, one attendee had to be physically restrained from nearly engaging in fisticuffs with Cruz. Â Additionally, Mrs. Cruz needed to be escorted out of the building due to concerns for her safety. The scene was ugly and embarrassing, and it publicly aired the dirty laundry of the Republicans for all the world to see.
Clearly, Ted Cruz believes Donald Trump will lose in November and wants to set himself up as the conservative frontrunner for 2020. Â However, Trump and his cronies were having none of it. Â In fact, Trump’s flunkie main hit man, Chris Christie, found the nearest news cameras to immediately denounce Ted’s speech.
“I think it was awful. And quite frankly, I think it was something selfish,” Christie told CNN’s Dana Bash. “He signed a pledge. And it’s his job to keep his word. I think it was too cute and I think you saw at the end of the speech that the crowd was waiting for him to do the right thing and realized that he wasn’t going to do it.”
“None of us should be sitting here worrying about 2020. We have a race to win in 2016,” Christie added.
The Cruz mutiny and failure to tow the line and pretend he was on the Trump bandwagon should come as no surprise to anyone, particularly after the brutal insults and outrageous innuendo Trump made against Ted’s wife and father. During the primaries, Trump alluded to the senior Cruz being involved in the JFK assassination.  He also threatened Ted that he would “spill the beans about your wife,” insinuating there was some dark secret about Heidi Cruz he could reveal to the world.  He didn’t.
Still, Ted Cruz had his moment of glory. Â He was able to deliver the type of speech he likely would have had he won the nomination. Â He was able to successfully paint himself as the protector of conservatism amidst the alternate world of Donald Trump. He was able to launch his 2020 presidential aspirations during a primetime speech in front of millions. He was able to completely overshadow the rollout of Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, since everyone was left talking about Ted’s speech instead of Mike’s. Â And he was able to ruin Trump’s nomination party and embarrass him in front of all of his guests.
For one very bold political moment, Ted Cruz took the phrase “You reap what you sow” and stuck it to Trump one last time.  For Cruz, it was well worth it!
Thanks for this DJ.
Except for the first night (when I watched 15-20 minutes of it) I haven't watched anymore. But I've kept up with what's happening via recaps on CNN and MSNBC and social media..
Okay ….so this Repub convention brings to my mind the following 2 thoughts (I'll keep it brief).
First: I remember, as a young child (age 5 or 6 ) being awakened in the night by the alarmed voice of my mother downstairs as she watched the "Special Report" (today's version of Breaking News) on television. A passenger train had derailed somewhere in the world sending a number of people (including children) plunging to their deaths as the train went off track down a steep slope into a body of water.
As my mother was on the phone with my grandmother discussing the horrific event, she hadn't noticed that I had sneaked downstairs and eased into the living-room to see what was the matter.
I saw a pic of that colossal train-wreck before my mother spotted me and sent me running back to bed. But that inedible pic has stayed with me all these years.
The two events are not equal. But I have a feeling that for many people watching the Repub convention – they will never get the horrific pics of this political train-wreck out of their minds.
DJ:
The Cruz mutiny and failure to tow the line and pretend he was on the Trump bandwagon should come as no surprise to anyone, particularly after the brutal insults and outrageous innuendo Trump made against Ted’s wife and father. [….]
Exactly right DJ. And yet, judging by their reactions, the NOT-too-bright bulbs in the Trump campaign were absolutely clueless, if not woefully naive to the point being down-right delusional about this.
How could Trump and his camp NOT have seen this coming?! It was SO obvious to anyone who had paid even the slightest bit of attention to all the nonsense that went on between Trump and Cruz during the primaries. Cruz has NO interest in *hugging it out* with Trump now that Donald is the nominee. Cruz is repulsed by Donald and he expects him to lose to Hillary.
And just think about this……
What does it say about today's Republican party when Ted Cruz of all people appears to be a man of "conscience" !?!
Rod Dreher:
"Who would have thought that Ted Cruz, of all people, would uphold moral conscience and basic human dignity at the Republican National Convention? [….] TAC writer
TAC Reader:
Ted Cruz decided to gamble on the all-against-one scapegoat mechanism by volunteering to be the victim. This actually benefits Trump in the short run, since it unites a lot of fractured Rs against a “traitor”. Even if they aren’t thrilled with Trump, they can all agree that Cruz is a bum for not endorsing.
In the long run, it could benefit Cruz because he gets to use the victim credential as a badge of honor. “Vote for one who died for your sins last time — the true outsider.” This assumes that the Trump support is really thin in the party structure and will be purged/fade-away post November.
Outside of the base Rs, it’ll probably read mostly as a confused party that doesn’t know what it’s doing. […]
TAC Reader:
That wasn’t honor, that was just self-serving.
Trump is a dangerous moron so I’ll be voting for Hillary while holding my nose, but…
Cruz was invited by Trump to speak, pointedly refused to endorse him, and submitted a different speech to the RNC than the one he actually gave. Basically, he was rude and lied. (On the plus side, if you’re gonna be rude and lie to someone, he couldn’t pick anyone better than Trump, I guess.)
If you want to talk about honor, Kasich did the honorable thing re: the convention. Refused to endorse Trump and so sat out the convention entirely – totally unheard of given that it’s being held in his home state.
Cruz was just being an ass and making it all about himself and his 2020 run for President. […]
This is from CNN.
Ted Cruz on Thursday strongly defended his refusal to endorse Donald Trump during his Republican National Convention speech, saying he's not "in the habit" of backing politicians who attack his family.
"I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," Cruz said at a morning meeting where he faced sharp questions from the Texas delegation in Cleveland.
NR Reader:
i'm gonna write a $1,000 donation check and send it to Ted Cruz…. it will be signed "my conscience" […]
NR Readers:
Moreover Cruz told Trump when he accepted the speaking invite that he would not endorse. This was widely reported, and no push back from the Trump campaign at the time saying those reports weren't true.
…let's first frame the issue correctly. Trump did not find out when the speech was made or submitted to his people earlier in the day that Cruz wouldn't endorse. Cruz told him that upfront. […]
NR Reader:
Agreed. They both gambled. If Trump wins, he is rid of Cruz. If Trump loses, Cruz will be vindicated. […]
TAC Reader:
I cannot see how any sober minded person could watch what is going on at this convention and not see that Trump has brought out something very very ugly and frightening about this country. I get a mob mentality – which is what one sees at this convention – but that people who are elected officials stoked that mob – that is the real issue here.
Is Christie, Carson the rest of the deplorable cast so hungry for power they would do this – guess so.
I was thinking about sitting this election out but watching this – I think even voting for Hillary is preferable to allowing this to go on. […]
TAC Reader:
Well, reading about this has convinced me to vote for Clinton. Not that I’m enthusiastic about her policies, but compare her treatment of Sanders – willingness to compromise to bring him into her fold – with the Trump campaign’s treatment of Cruz – physical violence against him and his wife.
If Trump and his supporters behave like this at the Republican convention, what will happen if they see themselves as validated by a win at the polls in November? The thought is almost too frightening to bear. I don’t want to live in a country that thinks violence is the only way to solve problems. […]
….and in response to Christie's criticism of Cruz…
Cruz Campaign Manager: Christie “Turned Over His Political Testicles Long Ago”
Ted Cruz’s campaign manager responded on Thursday to Chris Christie’s criticism of Cruz’s convention speech, saying that the New Jersey governor had “turned over his political testicles long ago.”
After Cruz declined to endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump in his speech on Wednesday, which was met with boos, Christie called Cruz’s speech “selfish.”
“That guy turned over his political testicles long ago,” Jeff Roe said on the Chris Stigall Show on Philadelphia radio. “So I don’t take what he has to say with any meaning. You know, he embarrassed himself pretty quickly in this." BuzzFeed
H/T: HotAir
BF Reader:
I don't like Cruz, I think he is a right extreme con man but I need to admit that he did the right thing last night after all that Trump said about his wife and father. […]
HA Reader:
I said before that there would be no savior rushing in, but I was wrong. Ted Cruz is the real anti establishment guy. He took that cheap veneer of party unity and threw it in the trash where it belonged, like one of those fake diamond rings that Trump used to give his friends. […]
I had to take a late lunch today but couldn't wait to get here and see what everybody is talking about all day long. I have been trying to watch as much of the Repub convention as I can stand. I like to know what the enemy is plotting, so I did see Cruz. Yes a lot of people booed him and are calling him a traitor, but he did the right thing. No way he could let Trump bully him after he talk about his family but still endorse him. If Trump had talked about my mama like that it would have come to blows. So Cruz wasn't going out a chump like Chris Christie. Plus Cruz is holding on to his conservative roots. That is the problem with Repubs now. They are all blind followers but at least Cruz stood up for what he believes.
YEAH TED! Anybody who can stick it to that asshat Trump is ok in my book.