CLEVELAND — Ted Cruz remained defiant Thursday morning — a day after being widely criticized for not endorsing Donald Trump during a speech at the Republican National Convention — saying that he was making the kind of principled stand that GOP needs more of.

“I’m not going to lie to you: What I said last night is what I believe,” Cruz said during an often-contentious Q&A session with the Texas delegation.

Cruz also explained why he had broken his pledge to support the GOP nominee, which he vowed to do during the party’s primary. The

criticism from Trump

of his wife, Heidi, crossed a line he said.

“I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father,” he said. “And that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi that I’m going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog.”

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The 5 Stages of Cruz and Trump



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