Trump, Cruz
Trump, CruzReuters

The primary season rivalry between Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz continued into the convention, with Cruz, the Republican Party’s runner-up refusing to endorse his own party’s nominee on the convention floor.

“We deserve leaders who stand for principle,” said Cruz, “who unite us all behind shared values, who cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect from everybody.”

“Don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”

When the crowd demanded he endorse Trump by name, Cruz refused, saying he appreciated “the enthusiasm” of the delegates in the hall. Trump supporters then booed the senator for his failure to unite behind the Trump-Pence ticket.

“Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn’t honor the pledge,” tweeted Trump shortly thereafter. “I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!” Trump wrote dismissively.

While the attacks lobbed during this year’s Republican primary season were far more personal than in years past, the rivalry between then-frontrunner Trump and runner-up Cruz was unprecedented in its intensity and vitriol.

Branding the senator “Lyin’ Ted”, Trump often targeted Cruz’s family during the primary season. Trump mocked the appearance of Cruz’s wife Heidi, posting an unflattering photograph of Mrs. Cruz in a side-by-side comparison with Melania Trump.

Later, Trump accused Cruz’s father of participating in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

For his part, Cruz referred to Trump and his campaign as “evil”, a “pathological liar”, a “narcissist”, “a bully,” and “a serial philanderer” who is “utterly immoral”.