Gingrich Finds Silver Lining for Trump in Cruz Speech

After Ted Cruz's boo-inducing non-endorsement of Donald Trump—one in which he told people to "vote your conscience"—Newt Gingrich took the stage and put a more positive spin on Cruz's words for Trump supporters. "I think you misunderstood one paragraph" in Cruz's speech, explained Gingrich. He said Cruz asserted that “you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution," per the Guardian. And that means a vote for Trump, he added, because "in this election, there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution. So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the only candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence ticket."

Gingrich is pretty close: Cruz's exact line was: “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," per the Hill. See Cruz deliver the remarks in this video. (More Republican National Convention stories.)