It’s been a stormy weekend for Texas Senator Ted Cruz. On Friday he caused a shock of seismic proportions within the Republican fold by announcing his endorsement of their presidential candidate Donald Trump. He had caused outrage by dramatically refusing to do so at the GOP convention in July. Then on Saturday he appeared to modify his support.
When asked by Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune if he considers Trump fit to be the U.S. President, Cruz hesitated, then said:
“I think we have one of two choices.”
It was by no means a rallying cry, but it was as far as Cruz was prepared to go. According to the Texas Tribune report, his responses to Smith’s questions remained guarded throughout. As his Twitter account shows, he was even diplomatic about the interview itself, which could not have been a comfortable experience for him.
Image source: @tedcruz/Twitter
Smith pressed him on some of the famous spats in the past between Trump and Cruz, especially when they were both vying for the Republican candidacy. As well as calling him “Lyin’ Ted Cruz” – a nickname which seems to have stuck – Trump insulted Cruz’s wife Heidi, and suggested his father colluded in the assassination of President Kennedy.
Cruz responded to that last barb with a furious diatribe, in which he called Trump:
“A pathological liar.”
“Utterly amoral.”
“A sniveling coward.”
“A narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.”
“A serial philanderer.”
When the interviewer reminded Cruz of this, he replied:
“I have had many, many disagreements with Donald Trump, some of which you have cataloged. And I have not been at all reluctant to articulate exactly why I believe that I should be the nominee instead of him.”
He added at another point:
“I have no intention of defending everything Donald Trump says and does. I have been very clear that I have significant disagreements with him.”
Then he attempted to draw a line under the discussion, by saying:
“We are in a general election now. I don’t think it is productive for me to criticize the Republican nominee today.”
The interview took place in front of an invited audience, and Cruz fielded two questions from them. Both questioners were clearly angered by his surprise endorsement of Trump in the first place. One of them, a Muslim woman, asked how she could feel safe with a president she believes to be a racist.
Cruz’s response was less than comforting. He would only say:
“That is a question you are going to have to ask yourself.”
Let’s look back on one of the most bruising of the Cruz-Trump encounters:
Featured image: screenshot via YouTube video
