Donald Trump doesn't seem to have realized the presidential primaries are over. In the Republican nominee's first speech of the general election Friday, Trump spent a strange chunk of time talking about his vanquished 2016 rival Ted Cruz, who pointedly refused to endorse him in his address to the convention Wednesday because of remarks Trump made during the primaries about his wife Heidi and father Rafael.
As Trump explained it, he just "had to" respond to Cruz's reasons for refusing to endorse him. "I don't know his father. I met him once. I think he's a lovely guy," Trump said of Rafael during his farewell address in Cleveland. "All I did is point out the fact that on the cover of the National Enquirer there was a picture of him and crazy Lee Harvey Oswald having breakfast."
And, Trump continued, the National Enquirer is usually a pretty reliable source of information. "This was a magazine that, in many respects, should be well-respected," Trump said. "I mean if that was The New York Times, they would have gotten Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Don't mistake Trump's explanation for an apology though: Trump told the audience he really doesn't even want Cruz's endorsement. "If he gives it," Trump said, "I will not accept it."
Watch Trump's rant on the Cruz family below. Becca Stanek
-
September 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein, Russia's answer to peace talks, and tougher citizenship questions
-
Murdoch's conservative son wins succession battleSpeed Read Lachlan Murdoch will get control over the media empire that includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal following his father's death, while his siblings will receive payouts
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
