Fox News panel savages Ted Cruz for not endorsing Donald Trump

Fox News panel trashes Ted Cruz
(Image credit: Fox News/YouTube)

Donald Trump promised some surprises at the 2016 Republican National Convention, but Ted Cruz stealing the show on Wednesday night by pointedly declining to endorse him was probably not what he had in mind. The conservative resistance to Trump was thrilled with this minor show of defiance, but the Fox News panel at the convention was not. "This was something that I don't think people were expecting in this hall," Brett Baier said. "The fact that Donald Trump walked out before Ted Cruz finished his speech, it was the moment they finally knew this is the end, and he's not endorsing."

Brit Hume unfavorably compared Cruz to Ronald Reagan in 1976, and Chris Wallace explained how Reagan endorsed Gerald Ford after a tough primary loss. "I think, win or lose for Donald Trump, Cruz will pay a price," Wallace said. "He looks like a sore loser." Tucker Carlson asked incredulously how Trump allowed this to happen. "These speeches are vetted, typically, at a convention by the candidate. This is Trump's convention." Baier said that convention officials said late Wednesday night that they hadn't seen the speech and Tucker said, "That does not happen at conventions." (Trump says he saw the speech and gave the green light anyway.)

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.