Ted Cruz was recounting to an audience how he had outlasted most of his 16 rivals for the Republican presidential nomination when a plane carrying the man who had won it all, Donald Trump, flew overhead, interrupting him mid-speech.
“All right, that was pretty well-orchestrated,” said Cruz, a Republican U.S. senator from Texas who waged a bitter campaign against Trump.
Hours later Cruz would take his revenge, refusing to endorse Trump during a prime-time speech on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He left the podium to a chorus of boos, and his wife was escorted off the floor as the convention erupted in rancor.
Susan Hutchison, chairman of the Washington delegation, said she confronted Cruz after his speech and called him a “traitor to the party.”
So much for party unity.
Over three days in Cleveland this week, Republican leaders have sought to sell a story of unity, repeatedly saying the party was getting ever closer to rallying behind Trump, whose candidacy has divided many and exposed deep discontent among Republicans with their leaders.
But in a few minutes on Wednesday night that show of unity was blown apart in spectacular fashion.
Cruz’s non-committal speech infuriated Trump supporters among the thousands of delegates cramming the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. But their angry jeers triggered recriminations from other delegates.
