Ted Cruz drew sharp criticism from reporters and media commentators Wednesday as he took nearly half an hour to introduce former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate.
Long-winTed
— andy levy (@andylevy) April 27, 2016
“Given this lengthy Cruz buildup, sounds like Carly should be at the top of the ticket,” said Fox News media critic Howard Kurtz.
Conservative talk radio host Skip Lacombe groused, “[S]eriously, get to the point, bro.”
Fellow radio host Erick Erickson said in his own note of irritation, “Was going to play clips from this event, but Cruz won’t shut up and my show is going to start soon.”
“Cruz has been talking for approximately forever,” joked Reason editor Robby Soave.
The senator teased Wednesday morning that he had chosen the Fiorina, a former 2016 Republican candidate, as his vice presidential nominee.
Later that afternoon, he made it official, saying at a campaign rally in Indianapolis that she is a “woman of extraordinary intelligence” and “a woman of deep principle.”
“Carly respects the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and she understands the threats facing America,” he said. “She understands this is a dangerous world and in naming her as my vice presidential nominee, I am also telling you that she is someone you can be confident in.”
He went on for quite some time, to the point where members of the press began to wonder if Fiorina would be given a chance to speak.
“Will we ever actually get to see this Carly person Cruz is speaking of?” asked the Associated Press’ Julie Pace.
“Jesus this is boring.” Commentary’s John Podhoretz grumbled. “Let [Fiorina] speak already.”
Cook Political Report editor Dave Wasserman meanwhile tweeted, “Alright, this speech is getting kind of hard/sad to watch.”
“I’m told that, yes, Carly Fiorina will speak next, assuming Ted Cruz ever finishes this speech,” said the Wall Street Journal’s Reid J. Epstein.
And on Cruz continued, stretching what many thought would be a brief address into something that ended up being nearly 30 minutes long.
The press was not amused.
Where is Carly? pic.twitter.com/so5pui4w2s
— Ryan (@alwaysonoffense) April 27, 2016
“This Cruz windup is now unofficially longer than his Iowa victory speech,” said National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar.
PBC and NBC News contributor Michael Beschloss said, “This is one of longest VP announcements ever.”
He added in a separate note, “This announcement is getting to be longer than some inaugural addresses.”
“Surprise! This is actually another Ted Cruz filibuster,” joked Real Clear Politics’ Rebecca Berg.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Sonny Bunch and Liz Harrington were equal parts amused and annoyed by the length of Cruz’s introduction.
“Cruz is so bad at this,” said Bunch, adding later that the speech reminded him of “the end of Return of the King.”
Harrington said elsewhere, “Oh my gosh, this is so bad.”
Not everyone in media was annoyed immediately by the length of his announcement, though, as some saw the potential wisdom in the senator dragging out the event.
“This has got to be the single longest targeted (free) television focus on Cruz and his campaign ever. Which was the point,” said the Los Angeles Times’ Cathleen Decker.
WBUR contributor Steve Koczela added, “This intro windup is the only way Cruz gets 30 minutes on every channel.”
“Everyone who thinks Cruz should stop talking — part of the point here, surely, is to have cables finally cover one of his speeches,” mused National Review editor Rich Lowry.
