Ted Cruz indicated his Wednesday afternoon rally could be an announcement for a vice presidential pick, but refused to say specifically what his "major announcement" would be. | AP Photo Ted Cruz to make 'major announcement' at 4 p.m.

Ted Cruz teased a “major announcement” Wednesday as he proclaimed he will continue fighting, despite Donald Trump’s decisive wins Tuesday night.

The Texas senator told reporters in Indianapolis he would be making his announcement at the Pan Am Pavilion on Wednesday afternoon.


“So I encourage folks to come join us at 4 p.m.,” Cruz said. “Hope to see all of y’all there.”

Fielding questions about whether he will name his vice presidential running mate — his campaign has begun vetting potential vice presidential picks, including former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina — Cruz wouldn’t say.

“If we were making an announcement at 4 p.m., then it wouldn’t make sense to announce it at 10 a.m.,” he said. “And so, the entire purpose of this is you guys should come, and at 4 p.m. you can find out what the major announcement will be.”

A BBC reporter relayed via Twitter that Fiorina was on his plane to Indianapolis, and an NBC News crew captured her exiting a car.

There is also speculation that Cruz could be announcing the endorsement of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, but a source familiar with the announcement confirmed that Pence has no role in the 4 p.m. rally.

Cruz, who finished third in all except Pennsylvania when five states voted Tuesday, is mathematically eliminated from securing the GOP nomination outright, though his campaign has strategically secured delegates who would support him at a contested convention after they become unbound. Facing the reality that Trump could still win on the first ballot, Cruz and John Kasich’s campaigns agreed late Sunday to cede states to each other in a last-ditch effort to deny Trump the nomination.

Trump insisted Cruz, who trails the billionaire by nearly 400 delegates, is wasting his time considering a vice president and preemptively slammed Fiorina as a veep pick Wednesday morning, telling ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the former Hewlett Packard executive had “one good debate” but didn’t resonate with voters.

“If you'll remember, remember we had so many — we had so many candidates ahead of us on that stage but she had the one good debate,” Trump said. “She went up, then she dropped like a rock and never resonated with the people. So, I mean, Carly is not going to do the trick.”

Trump senior adviser Barry Bennett speculated that Cruz will try “a Hail Mary of some sort” but questioned the point of naming Fiorina as a running mate.

“Carly wasn't exactly enjoying a lot of success in her campaign so it would be an interesting choice. You know, I don't think it solves Ted Cruz's problems,” he told CNN. “His problem is, you know, you got 11 and 12 percent in a lot of those states last night. He’s gonna have to do something bolder than that, something a lot more popular than that.”

In terms of the impact of a Fiorina endorsement in Indiana — where Cruz trails Trump by 6 percentage points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of state polls — Bennett said former Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach Bobby Knight would be a better running mate. Knight is scheduled to appear with Trump later Wednesday.

“Carly’s not from Indiana, obviously, but I'd rather choose Bobby Knight than Carly Fiorina in Indiana,” he said. “She's not very known at all, period. But I'm sure the Indiana people don't really know her at all.”

Though Cruz was mum on the details of his impending announcement, he explained his veep criteria to reporters.

“I have said from the beginning the most important attribute for any running mate is that he or she should be prepared to step in and fulfill the role as president,” he said. “Be commander in chief, keep this country safe and champion jobs, freedom and security. My number one priority as president is jobs, freedom and security. I think those are the priorities of the people of Indiana and the priorities of this country.”