US Senator Ted Cruz on Friday said he would vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a dramatic about-face that might help unite the party, months after the fiery Texas conservative called Trump a “pathological liar” and “utterly amoral.”
The former Republican presidential hopeful said he was simply following through on a promise to support his party’s presidential nominee, even though the New York billionaire had nicknamed him “Lyin’ Ted,” insulted his wife and linked his father to the assassination of former US president John F. Kennedy.
However, facing intensifying political pressure to back Trump, Cruz said he would cast a vote for Trump, while stopping short of an official endorsement in a statement posted on Facebook.
The distinction may matter little to voters, but helps Cruz save face among those supporters still unwilling to forgive Trump’s heated attacks during their ugly and often intensely personal primary campaign.
Cruz was booed by Trump supporters at the national convention for encouraging Republicans to “vote your conscience.”
“After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,” Cruz wrote.
Trump accepted Cruz’s support, describing it as an “endorsement” in a statement.
That was after Trump claimed he did not want Cruz’s endorsement immediately after the convention chaos.
“I am greatly honored by the endorsement of Senator Cruz,” Trump said. “We have fought the battle and he was a tough and brilliant opponent. I look forward to working with him for many years to come in order to make America great again.”
The development comes as a critical time in the presidential contest. The first debate is tomorrow and Election Day is less than seven weeks away. Early voting has already begun in some states. Trump and his democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, remain locked in a tight race.
Trump, in particular, has been branded as a phony by conservatives — Cruz among them — who see him more as a political opportunist than a true Republican.
Clinton addressed the shift on social media by posting a tweet from Cruz himself calling on Trump to release his tax returns. The Texas senator released nine years of his returns, while Trump has refused to release any.
Cruz finished second to Trump in the primary and balked at previous promises to endorse the eventual nominee. On Friday, he cited two reasons for his shift.
“First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word,” he wrote. “Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable — that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary.”
Cruz also faced intensifying political pressure from all quarters.
Since the convention speech, polls have suggested that Cruz’s popularity was slipping nationally and in Texas — where he could face a primary challenger for re-election in 2018.
His base supported his refusal to back Trump at first, but the mood shifted recently. The vast majority of calls coming into Cruz’s office had turned increasingly negative in recent weeks, with many voters urging him to support Trump to prevent a Clinton victory, according to Republicans familiar with the situation.
The Republicans spoke on the condition of anonymity, because these were internal discussions.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS