Republican National Convention: Was Ted Cruz’s Non-Endorsement Speech A Planned Trump Endorsement, And Where Was Senator Rand Paul?

The 2016 Republican National Convention has seen its share of ups and downs, and Melania Trump’s partially plagiarized speech was only part of it. The Republican debate in March saw all Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of the current 2016 nominee Donald Trump, agree to “support the candidate” that the voters chose. Ted Cruz was one of those who signed the pledge, and despite the constant sparring and some below the belt remarks from Donald Trump to Heidi Cruz, many still expected Texas senator to stick to the pledge.

The Inquisitr reported that Ted Cruz did not endorse Donald Trump Wednesday, on the night of his Republican National Convention speech. The conservative news and opinion outlet, the Daily Wire, alleges that the Donald Trump team setup Republican Senator Ted Cruz to take one on the proverbial chin Wednesday night.

Ted Cruz held a fair amount of cheers and applause at his appearance, and nearly 90 percent of his speech. The Texas Republican then divided the room full of delegates with his non-endorsement quote “Vote your conscience,” and although this is the thought of a silent majority of Americans, it was seen and could have been a veiled snipe against the official Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“Don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”

Ted Cruz steals the show https://t.co/BUEjggvgHi pic.twitter.com/SmDaMzTOXR

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) July 21, 2016

Reports allege that Ted Cruz was accosted by a delegate, his wife had to be rushed from the Republican National Convention, and a meeting with a big Republican donor was instead met with a snub. The Atlantic said that Republican Senator Ted Cruz stole the show, but many outlets are already lambasting and predicting the end of the Texas Republican’s career. Ted Cruz’s people have said that his non-endorsement speech was approved by Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort weeks prior, and no pushbacks or complaints were given at anytime leading up to the convention. The Cruz camp even stated that there were Trump operatives in the crowd urging the “boos” he received.

At this time, the Cruz camp source is unidentified, and no independent efforts to confirm this event have been done yet. However, based on the immediate media outrage and backlash, and the fact that Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee likely screened Ted Cruz’s speech, it seems altogether possible.

Ted Cruz was not the only Donald Trump opponent and Republican presidential candidate that many considered more viable, as Rand Paul also fit the bill.

Rand Paul skipped the Republican National Convention. Though it was known days prior that Paul would be skipping Republican National Convention, many Trump supporters and others, likely presumed the Kentucky senator would be home stewing about his failed presidential bid. However, this was simply not the case. According to Reason, Republican Senator Rand Paul was off “literally curing the blind.” Senator Paul took to Twitter to discuss his time away from the Republican National Convention.

I'm in Paducah, KY doing pro-bono eye surgeries all day. Continuing to practice medicine has been a blessing. pic.twitter.com/bWDm3UgWqK

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 19, 2016

Rand Paul’s Creative Director took to Facebook to discuss being in Kentucky with the Republican senator while he was working to restore sight to his legally blind patient, Rita. A video was posted to YouTube of the moment Senator Paul’s patient came out of surgery.

“I get to scrub in and help Rand Paul while he literally restores vision to a legally blind person and performs surgeries all day. Yeah, I’m definitely not upset about missing the RNC convention.”

Rand Paul skipped and Ted Cruz abandoned a direct endorsement, but did Senators Paul and Cruz really violate their Republican oath and allegiance to “Support the candidate?”

Politics are always about the “War of words,” and parsing the exact phraseology and word usage is crucial. The pledge that all Republican candidates agreed to, save for Donald Trump, was to “Support the Republican nominee.” This meant whomever it had to be, even if it was Donald Trump, which was specifically added to the question at one debate.

The media has been reciting, over and over, that neither of them specifically “endorsed” Donald Trump, but that isn’t what any Republican agreed to.

Republican Senator Rand Paul chose not to go, and for him and his supporters this makes sense, but said he would keep his pledge. Ted Cruz never said he wasn’t supporting the nominee, but simply appealed to all Republican voters to “Vote their conscience,” and to go out and vote. Therefore, there does not seem to be a direct breaking of said pledge, but the lone, defiant crusader story likely sounds better than the truth in headlines.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]