Elections

After Meeting In Washington, Cruz Accepts Trump’s Invitation To Speak At Convention

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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After a nasty and personal primary fight, Republican presidential primary rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz met in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

 

After the meeting, Cruz told reporters he accepted Trump’s invitation to speak at the convention.

“Sen. Cruz and Donald Trump had a good meeting this morning,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said. “There was no discussion of any endorsement. Mr. Trump asked Sen. Cruz to speak at the Republican convention, and Sen. Cruz said he would be happy to do so. Mr. Trump also asked Sen. Cruz for his counsel on future judicial nominations, and Cruz responded he would continue to do everything he can to help ensure principled constitutionalists on the courts.”

RNC chairman Reince Priebus also attended the meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Capitol Hill.”

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly referred to his opponent as “Lyin’ Ted.” At one point, Cruz called Trump a “sniveling coward.”

Cruz has not formally endorsed Trump since dropping out. It’s also not clear whether the Texas senator — the runner up in the Republican primary race — will have a speaking role at the GOP convention in Cleveland later this month.

The Daily Caller has reached out to spokespeople for Trump, Cruz and Priebus.

Trump is spending Thursday meeting with congressional Republicans in Washington.

“We had a great meeting, and I appreciate Donald Trump taking time to speak with House Republicans,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “Our members were grateful to hear about his general election plans and his desire to unify the party in advance of a critical election this November. It was an important opportunity for our members to get additional information about Mr. Trump’s campaign and ask questions about the issues that matter to Americans. It’s clear that our party is committed to defeating Hillary Clinton and Democrats this fall.”

In a statement, House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said: “Today’s meeting was a productive opportunity for Mr. Trump and House Republicans to unify around their shared goal for November: bringing new leadership to the White House and doing all we can to defeat Hillary Clinton. Mr. Trump answered questions for more than 40 minutes from around 20 members on a wide-range of topics. The conversation this morning gave many members of the House Republican Conference the chance to share their policy ideas with Mr. Trump and to ask questions to get to know him. For many, it was their first introduction, and it was a positive step toward winning in the fall.”

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