The Republican Party found itself in turmoil following Sen. Ted Cruz’s refusal to endorse Donald Trump and instead telling voters to vote their conscience, a move that longtime conservative activist Richard Viguerie says amounted to a political suicide on national television.
There had been reports ahead of the Cruz speech that the GOP presidential runner-up would not publicly support Trump and the Trump campaign approved the speech.
Near the conclusion of the address to the Republican National Convention, Cruz gave delegates hope that he would back the nominee but ultimately did not.
“To those listening. Please don’t stay home in November,” said Cruz.
But he didn’t follow that with the words many delegates expected and wanted.
“If you love our country and love your children as much as you know that I do, stand and speak and vote your conscience. Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and be faithful to the Constitution,” said Cruz to a growing cascade of boos.
Thursday morning Cruz said he ended his pledge to back Trump after his rival retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz and repeatedly suggested the senator’s father had ties to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Nonetheless, Viguerie says Cruz’s actions on a national stage were disgraceful.
“It was a serious, serious, huge mistake for him. It hurt Ted Cruz. It hurt the conservative movement. It hurt the Republican Party. It hurt America,” said Viguerie.
Viguerie says the mood swing in the convention hall told him all he needed to know.
“When Cruz was introduced, he got a thunderous ovation. If they had taken a vote right then, he would have got a majority of the votes for the nomination. When he left the stage after his speech, he widely booed. He didn’t have a lot of support after he left the stage,” said Viguerie, who says Cruz hurt himself the most through his own tactics.
“It does a great deal more harm to Ted Cruz than it does to Donald Trump,” said Vigurie. “He made a mistake that may be difficult to overcome for the rest of his life.”
So was the better move for Cruz to stay home if he couldn’t bring himself to endorse Trump or perhaps not mention voting if he wasn’t going to recommend the GOP nominee? Viguerie says neither of those would have been the right move. He says Cruz had a responsibility to suck it up and back Trump for the good of the nation.
“He has to be a bigger man than to hold these grudges. We’re talking about America. We’re talking about western civilization. We’re talking about our freedoms here. This is not a city council race. This is not a House race or a Senate or governor’s race. This is for leadership of the free world,” said Viguerie.
“Trump wasn’t most of our number one, number two or number three choice. Now we have a binary choice. Either Hillary Clinton’s going to lead America or Donald Trump. It’s not a close call,” said Viguerie.
He says whether right-leaning voters disgusted by Trump of not, the facts are clear heading into the general election.
“Those people who do not support Trump are supporting Hillary. They may deny it, but there’s no honest way to say anything other than to say if you are not supporting Trump, you are supporting Hillary Clinton,” said Viguerie.
But beyond the choice between Trump vs. Clinton, Viguerie says he is increasingly optimistic that a Trump presidency would advance some conservative principles.
“With Mike Pence’s selection, who is a movement conservative, with Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama playing a major role, with people like Art Laffer and Stephen Moore and other important conservatives playing an important role in this campaign, I have every expectation that this will definitely be a right-of-center administration,” said Viguerie.
