Republican presidential candidate Texas Senator Ted Cruz declared the primary results in Wisconsin “a turning point” and “a bad night for Hillary Clinton. It was a bad night in the Democratic primary, and it was even worse night for her in the Republican primary” during a speech after winning the Wisconsin GOP primary on Tuesday.
Cruz said, “What an incredible victory tonight, and thank you, to your tremendous governor, Governor Scott Walker (R) for his principled, passionate leadership. Tonight is a turning point. It is rallying cry. It is call from the hardworking men and women of Wisconsin, to the people of America. We have a choice. A real choice. The national political terrain began to change two weeks ago.”
After discussing the results in Utah, Colorado, and North Dakota, Cruz turned to that night’s results, stating, “And now tonight here in Wisconsin, a state that just three weeks ago the media had written off, three weeks ago, the media said Wisconsin was a perfect state for Donald Trump. But the hardworking men and women of Wisconsin stood and campaigned tirelessly to make sure that tonight was a victory for every American. Four very different states, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Wisconsin, four victories. So just how significant is tonight? Well, just today, our campaign has raised over $2 million.”
He further said, “And as a result of tonight, as a result of the people of Wisconsin defying the media, defying the pundits, I am more and more convinced that our campaign is going to earn the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination. Either before Cleveland, or at the convention, in Cleveland, together, we will win a majority of the delegates, and together, we will beat Hillary Clinton in November.”
Cruz also declared, “Tonight was a bad night for Hillary Clinton. It was a bad night in the Democratic primary, and it was even worse night for her in the Republican primary.”
He also said, “We are winning, because we’re uniting the Republican Party.” Cruz pointed to his endorsements from former GOP presidential candidates former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, along with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), and talk radio host Mark Levin as proof he has the “full spectrum of the Republican Party coming together and uniting behind this campaign.”
Cruz added, “In 1960, accepting the Democrat Party’s nomination, John F. Kennedy observed, ‘I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high–to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us [to see] through that darkness to a safe, and sane future. As Winston Churchill said on taking office…if we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future.’ The same is true today. Tonight, Wisconsin has lit a candle guiding the way forward. Tonight, we once again, have hope for the future. Tonight is about unity, and tonight is about hope.”
Cruz further said he looks forward to winning Wisconsin in the general election, and concluded, “Hillary, get ready, here we come.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett