There was a remarkable moment on CNN July 21, the morning after Senator Ted Cruz’s speech to the Republican National Convention. Representative Peter King, a Trump enthusiast, had called Cruz an “a—hole,” and when CNN hosts asked Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer about King’s comments, Spicer doubled down, saying, “I’d probably use the same verbiage.”
The Scrapbook certainly understands that there are those who think political conventions are supposed to be about unity and pageantry, and that Cruz violated those modern-day norms when he stood up in front of a national TV audience and gave a speech declining to endorse his party’s nominee. But this is Donald Trump we’re talking about—tact and civility and norms matter to him only on occasions when they align with his self-interest.
If anything, Cruz should be faulted for being too nice to Trump. Last fall, when Trump started to emerge as a political force, Cruz praised him repeatedly. While Cruz had his own interests in mind—along with everyone else, he likely expected Trump’s campaign to flame out and hoped to inherit his constituency—this no doubt helped to elevate Trump in the eyes of some voters.
However, that seems like eons ago. Once Cruz emerged as Trump’s major challenger, Trump christened him “Lyin’ Ted.” He didn’t just go after his rival, either. He called Cruz’s wife ugly and accused Cruz’s Cuban refugee father of being in league with John F. Kennedy’s assassin. Many people were upset that Cruz decided to ignore his previous pledge to support the party’s nominee. Asked about it the morning after the speech, Cruz retorted that Trump abrogated any pledge of mutual support when he went after Cruz’s wife and father so viciously. Cruz has an excellent point, and it’s fair to say that a politician who won’t stand up for his own wife and father probably can’t be counted on to stand up for voters.
As for the speech itself, it’s worth looking at what precisely was so objectionable. What angered Trump supporters most, judging by the volume of boos, was not the lack of endorsement so much as Cruz’s plea for every Republican to “vote your conscience.” The full text of Cruz’s speech was released ahead of time, including that line, and no one thought it objectionable until people in the convention hall started booing. Here’s a handy rule of thumb: If someone says “vote your conscience” and you start booing, it’s a good indication you should probably start searching yours.
There were credible reports that Trump functionaries actively whipped up the booing. Given that Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, previously specialized in lobbying for authoritarian thugs abroad, we have to consider the possibility that whipping up a hateful scene is something Manafort wanted to exploit. The problem is that once you loose that kind of hatred it proves hard to control.
We don’t believe Cruz will necessarily derive political benefit from this episode. He has been fairly accused of excessive careerism in the past, but we have to credit the Texas senator for standing up for party and principle at a time when it seems to have gone out of fashion.
