“I mean, I never thought I would say these words, but Ted Cruz was right,” Clinton said. | Getty Clinton makes a confession: 'Ted Cruz was right'

Hillary Clinton did the unthinkable Friday, by her own admission.

“I mean, I never thought I would say these words, but Ted Cruz was right,” Clinton quipped at a rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.


The Texas senator spoke on Day Three of Donald Trump’s national convention but got booed off the stage for telling Republicans to “vote your conscience” in November after snubbing the GOP nominee on an endorsement in a prime-time address.

“Did any of you watch that convention in Cleveland?” Clinton asked, drawing boos from the crowd. “Well, you know, it was kind of perversely flattering. It’s hard to believe they spent so much time talking about me and no time talking about jobs or education or health care.”

Regardless of personal politics, Clinton said, “I think we can all agree that never in the history of conventions, certainly, but I think even more broadly, have we moved forward together by pointing fingers and scapegoating and blaming people instead of rolling up our sleeves, getting a plan together and then working to achieve it.”

“I mean, something has gone terribly wrong when one speaker says ‘vote your conscience’ and gets booed,” Clinton added.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also blasted her rival for the rhetoric that came out of his convention. Clinton insisted that the America that Republicans in Cleveland described this week isn’t “the country we know and love.”

But Trump himself, Clinton said, took the “dark and divisive” vision that was on display to new heights Thursday.

“He offered a lot of fear and anger and resentment but no solutions about anything that he even talked about,” Clinton said, noting that she didn’t hear any policies to put Americans to work and keep them safe, while also casting Trump as an unqualified candidate whose distorted vision of the country is out of touch with everyday Americans.

“You could listen to that speech and you could think, ‘My goodness, he believes America is in decline.’ And I gotta say, as he said this last night, I was pretty shocked,” Clinton said. “He said, ‘I alone can fix it.’ Now just think about that for a minute because it's really important. His vision of America is one where we Americans are kind of helpless, we need to be rescued. I can't really imagine him on a white horse, but that seems to be what he's telling us.”

The former secretary offered her optimistic vision of a united America but concluded her rally not with the much-anticipated reveal of her running mate, but with a message for voters to remember come November.

“Here’s what I want you to remember — my last thought for you today,” she said. “Just remember, love trumps hate.”