After refusing to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Senator Ted Cruz announced on Friday that he will vote for Trump in the coming general election.
Cruz Made his announcement in a Facebook post on Friday:
In Cleveland, I urged voters, “please, don't stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket whom you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
I've made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word.
Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable — that's why I have always been #NeverHillary.
PREVIOUSLY – Ted Cruz Refuses to Endorse Trump, Gets Booed at Republican Convention Address: WATCH
Cruz also said he decided to back Trump because of the key role the next president will likely play in the future direction of the Supreme Court.
Wrote Cruz,
We are only one justice away from losing our most basic rights, and the next president will appoint as many as four new justices. We know, without a doubt, that every Clinton appointee would be a left-wing ideologue. Trump, in contrast, has promised to appoint justices “in the mold of Scalia.”
For some time, I have been seeking greater specificity on this issue, and today the Trump campaign provided that, releasing a very strong list of potential Supreme Court nominees — including Sen. Mike Lee, who would make an extraordinary justice — and making an explicit commitment to nominate only from that list. This commitment matters, and it provides a serious reason for voters to choose to support Trump.
Mike Lee, who has a history of vehement opposition to gay marriage and LGBT civil rights, has said he is not interested in a position on the Supreme Court.
Cruz added,
The Supreme Court will be critical in preserving the rule of law. And, if the next administration fails to honor the Constitution and Bill of Rights, then I hope that Republicans and Democrats will stand united in protecting our fundamental liberties.
Our country is in crisis. Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president, and her policies would harm millions of Americans. And Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her way.
NPR reports on conservative reaction to Cruz's announcement:
Some of Cruz's supporters are expressing disappointment with the senator's change of heart. On Twitter, conservative columnist and talk show host Steve Deace called the move the “worst political miscalculation of my lifetime” and said he suspected the move would cause more #NeverTrump voters to “dig in their heels deeper than be moved by Cruz's move.”
“Cruz has nothing to gain from this, and everything to lose,” Cruz's Iowa co-chair, Joel Kurtinitis, said in a message to NPR. “His brand is based on principled resistance. Submissive conformity to Trump — a man who personally slandered Cruz's family and hasn't apologized — just cements Trump as the unopposed alpha in the GOP and hangs Cruz's conservative resistance out to dry.”
“This endorsement will not convince #NeverTrump folks to change our minds about The Donald,” he continued, “but we may well be forced to reconsider our support for Sen. Cruz.”
You can read Cruz's full statement, below.
