Ted Cruz ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday after failing to defeat Donald Trump in the Indiana Republican primary.
“From the beginning, I’ve said that I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory,” Cruz told supporters at an election night rally in Indianapolis. “Tonight, I’m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed.”
Cruz’s supporters were shocked and booed at the news he would no longer continue to take on Trump.
“Together we left it all on the field in Indiana,” Cruz said. “We gave it everything we got. But the voters chose another path.”
Cruz did not mention Trump in his remarks ending his campaign.
Following Cruz’s announcement, Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus tweeted that Trump will be the presumptive, even though Kasich’s campaign staff vowed to remain in the race.
“As long as it remains possible Governor Kasich will fight for the higher path. Ted Cruz ran a strong campaign, stood for conservative principles, and exposed a lot about Donald Trump. Governor Kasich will continue to campaign and offer the voters a clear choice for our country,” Kasich’s chief strategist John Weaver said in a statement.
Multiple leading pro-life groups had supported Cruz over Trump saying he is the better pro-life candidate and had a better shot of defeating pro-abortion Hillary Clinton.
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Cruz has a 100% pro-life voting record as a member of the Senate . On 10 total votes on pro-life issues taken while has has served in the Senate, Cruz voted pro-life every single time.
The votes tallied by the national Right to Life Committee include multiple votes supporting a bill to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business over the years, votes to repeal or de-fund Obamacare, which uses taxpayer funds to pay for abortions as well as votes to protect the conscience rights of pro-life Americans.
In a recent interview, Cruz expound on his pro-life views and said that pro-abortion Democrats use the issue of contraception to try to attack pro-life Republicans and make them look like extremists.
Cruz gave an interview last week to the Catholic news network EWTN and he asked Cruz about some comments he made supporting contraception. The Texas senator said he was pushing back against a Democratic “political attack that was deliberately deceptive.”
“I am unequivocally pro-life, I believe that every life is a precious gift from God that needs to be protected from the moment of conception until the moment of natural death,” he said.
