In reversal, Cruz to vote for Trump

Republican presidential candidates businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, argue a point Thursday during a Republican presidential primary debate at Fox Theatre in Detroit.
Republican presidential candidates businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, argue a point Thursday during a Republican presidential primary debate at Fox Theatre in Detroit.

WASHINGTON — Ted Cruz said Friday that he will vote for Donald Trump, months after the Texas conservative called Trump a "pathological liar" and "utterly amoral."

Cruz said he was simply following through on a promise to support his party's presidential nominee, even though the New York billionaire had nicknamed him "Lyin' Ted," insulted his wife and linked his father to the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Cruz said he would cast a vote for Trump, while stopping short of an official endorsement in a statement posted Friday on Facebook.

Cruz was booed by Trump supporters at the national convention for encouraging Republicans to "vote your conscience."

"After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump," Cruz wrote Friday.

Trump accepted Cruz's support, describing it as an "endorsement" in a statement. That's even after Trump said he didn't want Cruz's endorsement immediately after the convention chaos.

"I am greatly honored by the endorsement of Sen. Cruz," Trump said Friday. "We have fought the battle and he was a tough and brilliant opponent. I look forward to working with him for many years to come in order to make America great again."

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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