Ted Cruz supporters react to controversial speech at RNC

After a week-long convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the billionaire businessman and reality TV star said he “humbly and gratefully” accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night. Ted Cruz and one other person he wouldn’t name during an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press”.

As he prepares to take center stage tonight, Donald Trump continues to defy all (excuse the pun) conventional logic of political pundits-winning even when he seems to lose.

While he doesn’t support Trump, he’s still a proud Republican, he said.

“It was a gradual migration, but (I’m) 100 percent on board now”, he says. “They broke their word”. The speech is subject to change, of course, and change should be expected-Trump has occasionally shown discipline when reading from a TelePrompter, but no one expects him to stick to the prepared remarks completely. Instead, Cruz urged people to “vote your conscience”, which drew loud boos.

We now understand that Trump saw the speech a couple of hours in advance and also knew with a certain degree of certainty that Cruz was not going to endorse him but let him go on anyway. New York Congressman Peter King called the Texas senator an anatomical expletive. Trump’s allies were furious with Cruz.

He said he was not in the habit of supporting people who attacked his wife and his father, and only said he would not be voting for Mrs Clinton.

“The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life”, said Mr Trump.

The following morning, Cruz met with Texas delegates and explained that he could not bring himself to back someone who had verbally attacked his wife and father. There are a bunch of people that did that.

Mr Kasich, however, has been in around Cleveland all week.

To be sure, Trump is far from the candidate that gay rights advocates would have selected were the choice up to them.

Trump’s campaign has defied political norms – fueling ethnic tensions, offending key voting blocs, eschewing big-spending ad buys or campaign infrastructure and relying on heavy media coverage. “Maybe. If he does, we’ll welcome him”.

Last month, Mr Kasich had compared breaking his endorsement pledge to a “divorce” – an unpleasant but occasionally necessary action. “We’ll see where it ends up”, he said. “That’s why I can fix it”. What other act could have elevated Melania Trump-described on the CNN ticker as having “Launched Jewelry Collection with QVC in 2010, and Caviar Skin Care Collection in 2013″-to the level of Michelle Obama, a cum laude graduate of Princeton University, graduate of Harvard Law, and, for more than seven years, the first lady of the United States?” “I can understand his reluctance to endorse”.

Four years ago Grenell, who is gay, was hired by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney to be his foreign policy spokesman, but resigned under pressure from social conservatives who questioned Romney’s conservatism. This election isn’t about liking the nominee of either party. He said he will not sign “bad” trade agreements. “I will fight for you, and I will win for you”.

Trump was no less controversial Thursday night as he promised to clamp down on immigration, strengthen borders and to champion hard-working Americans.

For now, however, some prominent politicians are not playing along – pledges be damned. “Great love in the arena!”