On the third night of the GOP convention in Cleveland, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was drowned out by boos after refusing to endorse Donald Trump, his party’s nominee for president.
On Thursday morning, a defiant Cruz continued to ratchet up his war against Trump, declaring that he would not grovel “like a servile puppy.”
Cruz’s speech seemed to once again expose deep fractures inside the Republican Party, after the Never Trump movement failed earlier this week to change the party’s rules to deny Trump the nomination. So I took to the streets to ask Republican voters on all sides of the divide—the pro-Trump types, the shrug-yeah-sure-Trump types, and the Never Trump types—about how the Republican Party can heal before November.
Cruz “was trying to reach those people who say ‘Never Trump,'” said Emily Redditt, an alternate delegate from Texas, as she defended her senator. “I can understand his reluctance to endorse.”
Joking that some Democrats would find a way to forgive President Barack Obama for anything, even if he shot their wife, kids, and dog, Redditt went on to say, “It’s as if Trump did go into Ted Cruz’s house and shoot his wife.” She added, however, that she would reluctantly vote for Trump in November.
Ariel White, a Trump supporter, was pessimistic about party unity and upset about Cruz’s speech. “It’s a hope and a prayer that we get the Republican Party back together,” she said. “For Trump, and for America.”
