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Cruz Has Experienced More Pressure Than Anyone Else Over Trump. Cruz has been hammered by former allies in the media and the Republican Party for not openly embracing Trump. That criticism existed before the Republican National Convention, but escalated dramatically in the days afterward (more on that in a moment). Cruz’s donors shied away from him; some of his biggest boosters in talk radio began ripping him regularly. The Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus openly threatened his future presidential prospects. Trump and his allies suggested primarying Cruz in the Texas Senate race. This put Cruz in a rough spot, obviously. With a few words, he thinks he can end all the pressure. The calculation is that simple – and it deserves at least a bit of sympathy.
This Is A Poor Political Move. It’s fully understandable, as I’ve said before, to say you’ll vote for Trump but continue to acknowledge that he’s a disaster area for conservatives. But that doesn’t appear to be what’s coming. ….
That’s partially due to the timing. The timing appears to undercut Cruz’s entire image as a man of principle in a world of dirty politics. He’s using Trump’s new announcement of Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) as a potential Supreme Court pick as a fig leaf for the move, but everyone can see that it’s a fig leaf. The move appears transparently political, not principled. Principled support for Trump could have come before the convention…or at the convention…or in the weeks immediately following the convention. To jump on board two days before the debates begin, at a time when Trump is clearly ratcheting up pressure on #NeverTrumpers to jump aboard, seems manipulative. It seems even more manipulative given Cruz’s early warmth toward Trump, when he thought he could ride Trump’s coattails to the nomination; his break with Trump, which seemed principled; and now his re-embrace of Trump, just in time for the election.
Cruz Takes Real Risk By Endorsing Trump. Cruz’s Trump endorsement is risky not just because he risks fracturing his base – hoping, presumably, that they’ll forget about his endorsement if Trump loses, and grudgingly acknowledge his correctness if Trump wins – but because Trump could destroy him. Trump’s done that before. As I reported, Cruz’s speech at the RNC was designed to be an overture to Trump – a quasi-endorsement that didn’t explicitly provide support for Trump, but clearly paved the way for such support. Cruz negotiated that language in advance with Trump. Trump knew about it. And then Trump used the vagueness of the speech as an opportunity to cast Cruz publicly as a traitor, sending his minions to the convention floor to whip up boos before popping into the convention himself like a WWE hero to Cruz’s villain.
The same thing could happen here. Cruz has negotiated deals with Trump before, like the RNC deal; Trump violated the deal. Cruz could be putting his head on the chopping block, Ned Stark style, only for Trump to go Full Joffrey and behead him. After all, Trump said after the RNC that he wouldn’t accept Cruz’s endorsement. Kellyanne Conway will undoubtedly be trying to pry Trump’s phone from his fingers in the moments after Cruz submits.
So, in the end, what’s the outcome likely to be? Cruz won’t move many voters over to Trump – most Cruz voters who haven’t moved over to Trump supported Cruz out of principle, not out of personal loyalty to him, and they won’t be persuaded to move to Trump now. They’ll just feel that their guy capitulated because the establishment forced him to kneel before Zod. Cruz will have undercut his own image; Trump won’t be able to help gloating.
So here’s Cruz’s bet: if Trump wins, he’ll have been on the winning team; if Trump loses, he won’t be blamed for the loss. That’s true so far as it goes. But because of how Cruz played his hand, he’ll be seen less as a reluctant man pushing Trump to victory than a fellow who chose expediency over principle. That’s actually rather tragic, since Cruz is a man of principle victimized by both a system that crushes principle and a belief that he can still manipulate that system to his own ends. He can’t. And he’d be better off acknowledging that simple fact, and standing with the principles he supposedly believes.
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- Discussion
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I feel bad for Cruz, who was trapped — partially by himself — in a terrible political situation. That doesn't mean I think he's right.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
Quick rundown on Cruz's excuses for the Trump endorsement: (/1)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
(2) Hillary is wholly unacceptable. True, but that doesn't mean a vote for Trump. (/3)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
(1) SCOTUS. Silly. Cruz knows McConnell will never go nuclear to confirm a nominee. He called McConnell a liar on the Senate floor. (/5)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
(3) Energy. He's correct that Trump will be better on energy than Clinton. (/7)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
(5) National security. Trump's an isolationist with warm feelings toward Putin and aversion to free trade. (/9)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
In the end, it's just the old lesser-of-two-evils argument. Which I understand, but which doesn't explain Cruz's flip on the matter. (/11)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
In order for this to seem like anything but manipulation, something had to have changed since the RNC. It hasn't. Trump's still Trump. (/12)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
I actually think Cruz is a man of conservative belief trapped by his ego, thinking he can out-manipulate the system. https://t.co/p8fE66JdB8
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 23, 2016
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