After famously snubbing Trump in 2016, Ted Cruz praises him on border security at RNC

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

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.

Cruz spoke on the second night of the convention that's been animated by the recent assassination attempt against Trump, who was grazed on the ear by a bullet while stumping in Pennsylvania this past weekend. National security was the theme of the night. Cruz accused President Joe Biden of neglecting the border and allowing crime to enter the country. Cruz evoked the names of Americans allegedly killed by undocumented immigrants, including 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. With each name, he led the crowd in a chant of "Every damn day."

"As a result of Joe Biden's presidency, your family is less safe. Your children are less safe. The country is less safe. But here's the good news: we can fix it. And when Donald Trump is president, we will fix it!" Cruz said. "We know this because he's done it before. I know this because I worked hand in hand with President Trump to secure our border and we achieved the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years."

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 on Tuesday night. Two of Trump's biggest Republican primary rivals this year also addressed the convention.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis both delivered their support to Trump. Haley was the last major candidate to drop out of the Republican primary in March. DeSantis was floated as a serious challenger to Trump and shared many of the same strategists as Cruz.

“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley said to applause.

Trump entered the convention floor and took his seat just before Cruz, Haley and DeSantis spoke, facing his former opponents in person.

---

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!