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Donald Trump: I wouldn't accept Ted Cruz's endorsement
| CNN | - |
(CNN)
Ted Cruz won't endorse Donald Trump, but the Republican nominee said
Friday he wouldn't take the support even if the Texas senator offered.
Donald Trump: I wouldn't accept Ted Cruz's endorsement
Story highlights
- Donald Trump said Friday that he wouldn't accept Ted Cruz's endorsement if he offered it
- The comments cap off a week where the politicians were at odds throughout their party's convention
(CNN)Ted
Cruz won't endorse Donald Trump, but the Republican nominee said Friday
he wouldn't take the support even if the Texas senator offered.
"If
he gives it, I will not accept it," Trump said at a news conference in
Cleveland at the close of the Republican National Convention.
"I don't want his endorsement," he added. "Just, Ted, stay home, relax, enjoy yourself."
He also suggested that if Cruz were to seek the White House, he would set up a super PAC to oppose him.
And
Trump, speaking the end of a week dedicated to unifying the party, once
again revived the conspiracy theory published in the National Enquirer
that linked Cruz's father to John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
-- an accusation that has no evidence behind it.
Trump doubles down on denial of linking Cruz's dad to JFK assassination 01:33
"I
don't know his father. I met him once," Trump said. "I think he's a
lovely guy, a lovely guy. All I did was point out the fact that on the
cover of the National Enquirer, there was a picture of him and crazy Lee
Harvey Oswald having breakfast. Now Ted never denied that it was his
father."
Trump first suggested that
Cruz's father was involved in the assassination of Kennedy the morning
of the Indiana primary, citing the tabloid story.
Cruz
allies have since repeatedly pointed to that low blow from Trump as a
reason for refusing to support the Republican nominee. And on Thursday,
Cruz referenced the incident, as he drew an angry reaction from members
of his state's own GOP delegation.
"I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," Cruz said.
Trump: Heidi the best thing Cruz has got going for him 04:28
Trump
devoted a significant portion of Friday's event, billed as a thank you
to convention staff and organizers, to attacking his former primary
rival.
Speaking at the RNC on Wednesday, Cruz had declined to endorse Trump, instead urging delegates to vote their "conscience."
Cruz
said that the Trump campaign had seen the speech beforehand, and that
he told Trump personally that he would not make an endorsement.
But Trump appeared to dispute that on Friday morning, saying Cruz went off-script at the convention.
"So
Ted Cruz took his speech that was done, was on the Teleprompter, said
hello, then made a statement that wasn't on the speech, then went back
to his speech," Trump said. "See, to me, that's dishonorable."
Trump likewise said it was "dishonorable" of Cruz to abandon his pledge to support the Republican nominee.
But
Trump said that Cruz's camp started it with an ad that ran in Utah
showing racy photos of his wife, Melania Trump. The ad was put out by a
PAC with no official ties to the Cruz campaign, but Trump said Friday
that he doesn't buy that.
"Folks, a lot of us are political people," Trump said. "We're not babies. His people are on the PAC."
At one point in his remarks, Trump even suggested forming his own PAC to oppose Cruz if the senator runs again in four years.
"I
don't see him winning anyway, frankly. But if he did, it's fine," Trump
said. "Although maybe I'll set up a super PAC if he decides to run."
Turning
to his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump asked, "Are you
allowed to set up a super PAC, Mike, if you are the president to fight
somebody?"
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