After upending Donald Trump's Republican National Convention with his conspicuous non-endorsement of the presidential nominee, Cruz is confronting isolation and unease in his home-state GOP, which has largely been moving toward Trump even as he continues to withhold support.
"The isolation is increasingly rapid, and it seems to me only the most fervent Ted Cruz supporters are hanging on," said Carl Tepper, former president of the Texas Republican County Chairmen's Association and an at-large delegate from Lubbock.
More than 36 hours after Cruz left the stage in Cleveland amid thunderous boos, very few prominent Texas Republicans were rushing to his defense. In fact, more could be seen and heard bluntly voicing disagreement with the attitude Cruz took toward his party's presidential nominee.
"It was just painful. It was not what I would consider what we needed at a convention," state Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock said in an interview Thursday on Lubbock radio.
- Trump Says He Plans to Launch Super PAC Against Ted Cruz.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says he will probably create a super PAC with the aim of hobbling the political future of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Trump, a mercurial businessman whose promises have often been subject to deep skepticism, confirmed the plan in an interview set to air Sunday on NBC. He was asked about a report Friday that said he wants to set up a super PAC, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, to go after Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, two former Republican primary opponents who have not endorsed him.
