GOP officials rip Cruz for withholding Trump support, Gingrich gives endorsement on his behalf

Republican officials slammed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Wednesday night after he failed to endorse presidential nominee Donald Trump during his convention speech.
One RNC official called Cruz's speech "classless," while a senior GOP operative on the convention floor told Fox News, "I could not believe it. I literally could not believe [Cruz] didn't endorse Trump. I'm speechless."
Cruz, a rival of Trump's during primary season, was booed off the stage after ignoring cries from delegates to formally back the party's presidential candidate.

Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

The cacophany of noise and discontent was amplified when the nominee himself walked into the Quicken Loans Arena as Cruz was finishing his speech.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke later in the evening, departed from his prepared text to attempt to recast Cruz's remarks as an endorsement of Trump.
Gingrich, a strong Trump supporter, noted what he described as the real estate mogul's "generosity" in allowing Cruz to address the delegates in Cleveland and said that the audience had "misunderstood" the point of the speech.

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"Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution," Gingrich said. "In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution.
"So to paraphrase Ted Cruz," Gingrich added, "the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket."
By contrast, Gingrich's prepared remarks included only a single mention of Cruz, saying that the Texas senator's remarks "made the key point that we need to elect the Trump-Pence Republican ticket."
A source close to Cruz's inner circle acknowledged to Fox News that the end of the speech "was tough, but sometimes standing for principle means getting booed."
"It's not classless to compliment Trump for winning," the source added. "It's not classless to highlight areas of policy where they can work together like border security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his supporters to not stay home, but turn out."