Mike Huckabee: ‘Trump Trusted Ted and Was Rewarded with a Betrayal’

Former 2016 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says fellow former candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) betrayed Republican nominee Donald Trump last night at the Republican National Convention.

Cruz opted not to endorse Trump after he vowed — as the other candidates had — to support the eventual nominee.

“The question of the night was whether Ted Cruz would honor his word and support the nominee or earn the moniker ‘Lyin Ted’ given to him by the man who won. The question was whether Cruz would make his speech about HIS future or the future of the country. And that question was answered when Ted Cruz chose to not keep his word that he (along with me and every other GOP candidate) gave one year ago in that very arena where tonight he put his own ambitions above country,” Huckabee began in a post on Facebook late Wednesday night.

Huckabee continued:

Donald Trump did something no previous nominee has done—he allowed Ted Cruz to speak without his promising to support the nominee. I’ve spoken at every convention since 1992, and I can attest to the fact that no one got near that stage without supporting the nominee. Trump trusted Ted and was rewarded with a betrayal, but the delegates in that arena booed Cruz off the stage and out of Cleveland.
I’m certain that many of you will react harshly and angrily to my words. So be it. But when a person gives his word, he should keep it. When a person is treated with generosity to give a speech, he should either respond with respect or graciously decline. And when a person loses, he should accept the will of the voters and then offer support to the victor of the primary to defeat the anti-gun, pro-abortion, incompetent, dishonest, and dishonorable nominee of the Democrat party.

So fire away with your comments, Facebook Friends. But from where I sit, I didn’t see a statesman step forth for the country’s future. I saw a self-absorbed politician grab the microphone and try to line up his own future. Ted walked in tall and walked out small.

Fellow 2016 GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry also questioned Cruz’s decision to speak at the convention, but not to endorse during an appearance on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Thursday morning.