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MILWAUKEE — The final time U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz took the stage of the Republican Nationwide Conference, he was booed for not endorsing then-candidate Donald Trump.
Nobody was booing him this yr.
Cruz praised Trump because the social gathering’s nominee on the nationwide conference important stage Wednesday. Talking on the second day of the conference, Cruz stated Trump would carry order to the border and enhance safety all through the nation.
“God bless Donald J. Trump,” Cruz bellowed on the high of his speech to a standing ovation and a number of the loudest applause of the evening.
Cruz spoke on the second evening of the conference, which was themed round nationwide safety. Cruz accused President Joe Biden of neglecting the border and permitting crime to enter the nation. Cruz evoked the names of Individuals allegedly killed by undocumented immigrants, together with 22-year-old Georgia nursing scholar Laken Riley. With every title, he led the group in a chant of “Every damn day.”
“As a result of Joe Biden’s presidency, your family is less safe. Your children are less safe. The country is less safe. But here’s the good news: we can fix it. And when Donald Trump is president, we will fix it!” Cruz stated. “We know this because he’s done it before. I know this because I worked hand in hand with President Trump to secure our border and we achieved the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.”
Trump and his operating mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, had been within the viewers as Cruz spoke.
It was a stark distinction to the 2016 conference, when he famously advised voters to “vote your conscience” and declined to call Trump throughout his speech.
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Cruz’s 2016 speech got here shortly after he misplaced the Republican major in a bitter combat in opposition to Trump the place Trump lobbed private insults in opposition to Cruz and his household. Trump insulted the looks of his spouse, Heidi, and advised his father, Raphael Cruz, was concerned within the John F. Kennedy assassination. Cruz in response known as Trump a “sniveling coward.”
“We have no king or queen, we have no dictator, we the people constrain government,” Cruz stated on the 2016 conference. “We deserve leaders who stand for principle, who unite us all behind shared values, who cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect from everybody.”
“Vote your conscience” grew to become a defining line of the conference. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton quoted Cruz in a tweet with a hyperlink to her marketing campaign web site.
Different Republicans on the conference that yr loudly booed Cruz, together with many Texas Republicans, who had rallied behind Trump.
“I am not in the habit of supporting people who have attacked my wife and attacked my father,” Cruz stated that yr at a Texas delegation breakfast after his speech.
Cruz was not invited to talk on the 2020 RNC. The conference that yr was drastically pared down because of the pandemic.
Cruz ultimately endorsed Trump in September of the 2016 cycle. He later grew to become one of many president’s largest supporters within the Senate. He described the transformation as one in every of pragmatism to perform coverage they agreed on.
“We had a primary where Donald Trump and I beat the living crap out of each other,” Cruz stated in a 2022 look on “The View.” “I could have decided my feelings are hurt, I’m going to take the ball and go home and not do my job. But … we have an opportunity to make a difference for this country.”
Cruz additionally was one of many largest supporters of Trump’s challenges to the 2020 presidential election.
Cruz was broadly anticipated to launch one other presidential marketing campaign after his 2016 loss. He quieted whispers about one other presidential run this yr, saying he can be specializing in reelection to the Senate. He faces a aggressive problem from U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, and is taking the race significantly after former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s close to victory in 2018.
Nonetheless, Cruz stated operating for president was the “most fun I’ve ever had in my life” and that he expects to run once more sooner or later.
Cruz endorsed Trump this cycle in January after the previous president simply received the Iowa Caucuses.
Cruz was not the one former Trump-rival to talk on the stage on Tuesday evening. Two of Trump’s largest Republican major rivals this yr additionally addressed the conference.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis each delivered their assist to Trump. Haley was the final main candidate to drop out of the Republican major in March. DeSantis was floated as a critical challenger to Trump and shared most of the similar strategists as Cruz.
“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley stated to applause.
Trump entered the conference ground and took his seat simply earlier than Cruz, Haley and DeSantis spoke, dealing with his former opponents in individual.
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