Cruz's Failed Attempt to Sabotage Trump in Cleveland
Jacob Heilbrunn
Politics, United States
Trump's prospects may not rest on the convention.
In instructing Republicans last night at the convention in Cleveland to “stand, and vote, and speak” their conscience in November, Ted Cruz was asking them to consult something that he has never displayed. There was talk of nothing less than Lucifer from Dr. Ben Carson at the convention. He meant Hillary Clinton. He had the wrong person in mind.
Senator Marco Rubio said, “After a long and spirited primary, the time for fighting each other is over.” Cruz wasn’t listening. From the outset, Cruz was intent on sabotage. He was firing on Fort Trumpter to try to launch a GOP civil war. In short, the lubricious Cruz was playing what New York Times columnist Frank Bruni correctly called a “mischievous, misanthropic game of subverted expectations” last night. The real subversion, however, was of whatever remains of his reputation, never very high to start with. The tawdriness and mendacity of Cruz was truly something to behold.
Yes, it was probably inevitable that Cruz was going to withhold his own endorsement of Donald Trump, both because of his assertion that Cruz père may have been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but above all because Cruz fils likely believed that he was promoting his own presidential prospects for the next go-around in 2020. When future generations of American children are instructed about demagogic politicians, Cruz’s performance should hold a prominent place in any chronicle. The only merit of Cruz’s antics is that they helped to overshadow the following, lackluster address by Indiana governor and Trump running mate Mike Pence, who introduced himself “to those of you who don't know me, which is most of you...”
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