Cruz Explains: I Don't Support People Who Attack My Family

Ted Cruz didn't exactly have a change of heart in regard to Donald Trump overnight: After being booed Wednesday night for failing to endorse the GOP nominee, Cruz addressed Texas delegates Thursday morning and declared, "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and who attack my father." Cruz, though, also pointed out that he didn't utter a single negative word about Trump during his speech, and he ruled out voting for Hillary Clinton. He also seemed to quash any notion of a third-party bid, though Politico notes that he used the present tense: "I'm not encouraging anybody to write my name in," he said. "I'm not a candidate in this race."

Cruz said his promise during the primary to support the eventual nominee no longer applied because Trump resorted to nasty attacks. "The day that became abrogated was the day that became personal," he said, adding, "That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you [attack] Heidi I'm going to nonetheless go like a servile puppy." He did, however, promise to listen to Trump's speech Thursday night and did not explicitly rule out a future endorsement. He said he'll be "watching and listening" but won't just "sit down, shut up, support the team," per the AP. (Catch up with reaction to the speech here.)