USA TODAY International Edition
Will Cruz say he’s for Trump?
Former rival takes the stage on Wednesday night
In the heat of the Republican primary battle, Ted Cruz called Donald Trump a “pathological liar,” “narcissist” and “utterly amoral.”
In turn, Trump tagged Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” and suggested that his father, Rafael Cruz, had a hand in the Kennedy assassination.
Cruz on Wednesday is expected to shelve that bad blood, at least temporarily, and take the stage at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland for one of the most anticipated speeches of the event.
Cruz, runner- up in the GOP primary contest, is one of the highest- profile GOP personalities to speak at the convention, though he has not revealed what he’ll talk about.
Observers will be watching closely to see whether he offers a direct endorsement of his former foe — which he has withheld since ending his campaign in May — or uses the big stage to advance his own political ambitions and an anticipated second run for the White House in the future.
“Is this going to be a Ted Cruz saying, ‘ Thank you to all my delegates, and by the way, I hate Hillary Clinton’?” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Or is he going to say, ‘ Ladies and gentleman, given the choices, we’re going to have to stand with Donald Trump.’ It will matter.”
Cruz’s speech comes at a time when the Republican Party faces serious chasms between pro- and anti- Trump factions.
On Monday, a group of delegates attempted to force a rollcall vote on the convention rules, leading to shouting matches on the floor of Quicken Loans Arena.
A ringing endorsement from Cruz could go a long way toward unifying the party, much the way Ronald Reagan threw his support behind rival Gerald Ford in a dramatic turn at the 1976 GOP convention, said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University in Houston.
Then, Reagan walked over to Ford at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, shook hands with the president and gave a stirring speech supporting his former foe.
Don’t expect such magnanimity from Cruz on Wednesday, Jones said. By supporting Trump too closely, Cruz risks alienating many of the conservative supporters he has garnered the past year on the campaign trail.
Jones said Cruz’s motives are likely less tied to supporting Trump and uniting the party and more about remaining relevant to his supporters to take another run at the presidency in 2020 or 2024.
Cruz himself has alluded to another presidential run in his future.
When Cruz walks out onto the stage Wednesday, expect a lot of rhetoric attacking Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and a list of personal views on issues, but not a lot of Trump accolades, said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
“It’s hard not to see this about his ambition when we certainly know it’s not about supporting Trump,” Henson said.
“Is this going to be a Ted Cruz saying, ‘ Thank you to all my delegates, and by the way, I hate Hillary Clinton’?” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.