Trump accepts Cruz endorsement after saying he wouldn’t

by Ben Kamisar - 09/23/16 4:48 PM ET

Donald Trump on Friday accepted Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) endorsement, despite promising in July not to.

After Cruz was booed at the Republican National Convention for refusing to endorse Trump, the GOP presidential nominee tore into his formal rival.

{mosads}Trump predicted at the time that Cruz would eventually endorse, but said that “if he gives it, I will not accept it.”

“He’ll come and endorse in the next little while because he has no choice. … I don’t want his endorsement. Ted, stay home, relax, enjoy yourself.”

But when Cruz’s endorsement came Friday in the form of a lengthy Facebook post, Trump accepted it with open arms.

“I am greatly honored by the endorsement of Senator Cruz. We have fought the battle and he was a tough and brilliant opponent,” the businessman said in a statement released by his campaign.

“I look forward to working with him for many years to come in order to make America great again.”

The two battled fiercely in a GOP presidential primary that occasionally turned personal.

Trump frequently called Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” shared an unflattering picture of his wife making fun of her appearance and questioned whether his father was involved in President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Cruz argued the day after his convention speech that his pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee was “abrogated” by Trump’s personal attacks.

“Neither he nor his campaign has taken back a word of what they said about my family,” he said.

“That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi, that I’m going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.”

The former rivals had signaled a thawing in relations in recent days. Trump on Thursday blessed a Cruz-led push to prevent the Obama administration from ceding oversight of a key internet function come October.

And on Friday, his campaign released additions to his list of potential Supreme Court nominees that included Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a close Cruz confidante who himself has not yet endorsed Trump.

Tags Donald Trump Mike Lee Ted Cruz