CLEVELAND — Donald Trump’s campaign chairman said Wednesday that Sen. Ted Cruz will leave “no doubt” he wants Mr. Trump to be president in his address to the Republican National Convention, though he hadn’t yet seen Mr. Cruz’s planned remarks.
“I have not seen [his] speech so I can’t tell you what he’s going to say,” Mr. Manafort said on CNN’s “New Day, adding he thinks Mr. Cruz will be speaking Wednesday about the same kinds of issues that he talked about during the primaries.
“I think you’ll see [after] the end of his speech tonight that Senator Cruz will be part of the campaign going forward — in what capacity, I’m not certain,” Mr. Manafort said. “But his words will leave no doubt that he wants Donald Trump to be president of the United States.”
Mr. Cruz was Mr. Trump’s top rival during the 2016 GOP presidential primary contest. He said Mr. Trump asked him to speak at the convention during a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., but that the idea of an endorsement was not discussed.
Speaking on “Fox and Friends,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Mr. Cruz is a “smart guy” and understands that he has a “very long” future ahead of him.
“This is part of his re-entry,” said Mr. Gingrich, who is also scheduled to speak Wednesday evening. “I don’t think he’s coming here to be a bad guy.”
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, another former 2016 GOP presidential candidate, is also scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday. Sen. Marco Rubio, another former 2016 GOP rival of Mr. Trump, is scheduled to address the crowd via a video message.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, two other former 2016 GOP presidential candidates, spoke Tuesday evening.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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