Friday at the Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, FL, during a press conference former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said he did not endorsed his once-rival Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) because attempts to stop Donald Trump would “fracture the party irreparably.”
Partial transcript as follows:
REPORTER: “A quick question Dr. Carson, about your decision to endorse Mr. Trump over Senator Cruz. You didn’t hide earlier in the week that you were open to endorsing one of the two. Why not Senator Cruz?”
CARSON: “Well, first of all, we had a lot of excellent candidates. I think any of the 17 candidates who were running could have done a fine job. But one of the real factors for me is what will happen if we allow the political operatives to succeed in their endeavor to stop Donald Trump? I think it would fracture the party irreparably and it would hand the election to the Democrats, and they would get two to four picks in the Supreme Court and America would be forever changed. That’s the big picture. It’s a very big picture. It’s not about me. It’s not about Mr. Trump. It’s about America.”
REPORTER: “Why not Senator Cruz, ultimately?”
CARSON: “Because I feel that Mr. Trump is willing to do what needs to be done to break the stranglehold of special interest groups and the political class.”
REPORTER: “Are there any remaining hard feelings towards Senator Cruz over what happened in Iowa?”
CARSON: “I’ve completely forgiven him. That’s a duty one has as a Christian.”
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