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MILWAUKEE — The last time U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz took the stage of the Republican National Convention, he was booed for not endorsing then-candidate Donald Trump.
No one was booing him this year.
Cruz praised Trump as the party’s nominee on the national convention main stage Wednesday. Speaking on the second day of the convention, Cruz said Trump would bring order to the border and increase security throughout the country.
“God bless Donald J. Trump,” Cruz bellowed at the top of his speech to a standing ovation and some of the loudest applause of the night.
Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, were in the audience as Cruz spoke.
It was a stark contrast to the 2016 convention, when he famously told voters to “vote your conscience” and declined to name Trump during his speech.
Cruz’s 2016 speech came shortly after he lost the Republican primary in a bitter fight against Trump where Trump lobbed personal insults against Cruz and his family. Trump insulted the appearance of his wife, Heidi, and suggested his father, Raphael Cruz, was involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination. Cruz in response called Trump a “sniveling coward.”
“We have no king or queen, we have no dictator, we the people constrain government,” Cruz said at the 2016 convention. “We deserve leaders who stand for principle, who unite us all behind shared values, who cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect from everybody.”
“Vote your conscience” became a defining line of the convention. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton quoted Cruz in a tweet with a link to her campaign website.
Other Republicans at the convention that year loudly booed Cruz, including many Texas Republicans, who had rallied behind Trump.
"I am not in the habit of supporting people who have attacked my wife and attacked my father," Cruz said that year at a Texas delegation breakfast after his speech.
Cruz was not invited to speak at the 2020 RNC. The convention that year was drastically pared down due to the pandemic.
Cruz eventually endorsed Trump in September of the 2016 cycle. He later became one of the president’s biggest supporters in the Senate. He described the transformation as one of pragmatism to accomplish policy they agreed on.
“We had a primary where Donald Trump and I beat the living crap out of each other,” Cruz said in a 2022 appearance on “The View.” “I could have decided my feelings are hurt, I’m going to take the ball and go home and not do my job. But … we have an opportunity to make a difference for this country.”
Cruz also was one of the biggest supporters of Trump’s challenges to the 2020 presidential election.
Cruz was widely anticipated to launch another presidential campaign after his 2016 loss. He quieted whispers about another presidential run this year, saying he would be focusing on reelection to the Senate. He faces a competitive challenge from U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, and is taking the race seriously after former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s near victory in 2018.
Still, Cruz said running for president was the “most fun I've ever had in my life” and that he expects to run again in the future.
Cruz endorsed Trump this cycle in January after the former president easily won the Iowa Caucuses.
Cruz was not the only former Trump-rival to speak on the stage. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, was also slated to speak. Haley was the last major candidate to drop out of the Republican primary in March.
“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley said to applause.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was also on the docket to speak.
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Big news: director and screenwriter Richard Linklater; NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher; U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-California; and Luci Baines Johnson will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!