Saturday, September 24, 2016
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
Ted Cruz announced Friday he will vote for Donald Trump, a dramatic about-face that may help unite a deeply divided Republican Party months after the fiery Texas conservative called Trump a “pathological liar” and “utterly amoral.”
Cruz said he was simply following through on a promise to support his party’s presidential nominee, even though the New York billionaire had nicknamed him “Lyin’ Ted,” insulted his wife and linked his father to the John F. Kennedy assassination.
But facing intensifying political pressure to back Trump, Cruz said he would cast a vote for Trump, while stopping short of an official endorsement in a statement posted Friday on Facebook.
The distinction may matter little to voters, but helps Cruz save face among those supporters still unwilling to forgive Trump’s heated attacks during their ugly and often intensely personal primary campaign. Cruz was booed by Trump supporters at the national convention for encouraging Republicans to “vote your conscience.”
“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,” Cruz wrote Friday.
Trump accepted Cruz’s support, describing it as an “endorsement” in a statement. That’s even after Trump claimed he didn’t want Cruz’s endorsement immediately after the convention chaos.
“I am greatly honored by the endorsement of Senator Cruz,” Trump said Friday. “We have fought the battle, and he was a tough and brilliant opponent. I look forward to working with him for many years to come in order to make America great again.”