“We knew [an endorsement] wasn't coming," Donald Trump Jr. said about Ted Cruz. | Getty Donald Trump Jr.: We knew Cruz wasn't going to endorse

Sen. Ted Cruz’s fiery non-endorsement of Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention actually “galvanized” the party behind its candidate, Donald Trump Jr. Thursday morning.

The Manhattan billionaire’s son told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the Trump campaign saw Cruz’s speech ahead of time and knew what the Texas senator would say. The GOP nominee allowed Cruz to speak, Trump Jr. said, in the interest of party unity, even though he knew the remarks would be far from an endorsement.


“We knew [an endorsement] wasn't coming. My father wanted all the guys who wanted to be there, he wanted to give them a platform,” Trump Jr. said. “I think he wants to show that he’s about unity, so he knew that was happening and he was a better man about it.”

Cruz’s speech, in which he did not utter Trump Sr.’s name and urged Republicans to “vote your conscience,” was poorly received in the convention hall. Nearly all of the GOP delegates booed Cruz and chanted Trump Sr.’s name, a show of unity at a convention that has thus far been filled with controversy and simmering tension within the party.

“So if there was any doubt left going into yesterday, I think him doing that galvanized everyone. You heard it,” Trump Jr. said of Cruz’s remarks. “He did a phenomenal job bringing the party together. I would like to thank him for the greatest endorsement we could have possibly received.”