The endorsement from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is a coup for Ted Cruz, who is struggling to overtake Donald Trump in Indiana’s primary next Tuesday. Indiana Gov. Pence offers tepid endorsement of Cruz Pence goes out of his way to also praise Trump. 'I'm not against anybody, but I will be voting for Ted Cruz,' he says.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday, but not before lavishing praise on Donald Trump.

"Now, I have met with all three of the candidates as of about Tuesday of this week. And I want to say, I like and respect all three of the Republican candidates in the field. I particularly want to commend Donald Trump, who I think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working Americans with a lack of progress in Washington, D.C.," Pence said on conservative radio host Greg Garrison's show in Indianapolis.


"And I'm also particularly grateful that Donald Trump has taken a strong stand for Hoosier jobs when we saw jobs in the Carrier company abruptly announce leaving Indiana not for another state but for Mexico," he continued. "I'm grateful for his voice in the national debate. Let me say, I've come to my decision about who I'm supporting and I'm not against anybody, but I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary."

The endorsement is a coup for the Texas senator, who is struggling to overtake Trump in Indiana’s contest next Tuesday, which has emerged as a must-win for him. And it’s a blow to Trump, who had also met with Pence, as did John Kasich. The news comes as Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, whose state votes after Indiana, is also expected to endorse Cruz, according to Nebraska's Republican National Committeeman, J.L. Spray.

In the interview Friday, Pence suggested that he would work hard to elect the eventual Republican ticket.

"I really admire the way Ted Cruz has been willing to stand up for taxpayers in opposing runaway spending, deficits, and debt, calling for and leading on repealing Obamacare," Pence said. "And I have to tell you, I'm very impressed with Ted Cruz's devotion and knowledge of the Constitution of the United States. Of the freedoms that are enshrined there in our bill of rights from our liberties to our Second Amendment and of course, I appreciate his strong and unwavering stand for the sanctity of life. But it's for those reasons and just as much in support of the principles that have always animated my public service that I'm voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary."

Pence tempered his endorsement of Cruz by remarking that he would support any of the candidates in a general election against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

"But after voters make all of their choices between now and June the 7th and our party settles on a nominee, on a team, on a ticket, I promise you I’m going to work my heart out for that team and make sure we deliver a great victory," Pence said, declining to mention Cruz by name.

Public polls show Cruz trailing Trump in Indiana, a state where he is campaigning aggressively. His team saw Indiana as similar to Wisconsin, another Midwestern state Cruz won big earlier this month—but unlike Wisconsin, top Republican leaders in Indiana have been slower to get on board. Pence’s endorsement could help move the dial in his favor in a race that Cruz himself has in fundraising emails called the potential “deciding factor.”

“I know I’m going to be listening. I would encourage other folks to listen as well,” Cruz told reporters in Indianapolis, before launching into effusive praise of the Republican governor.

Cruz noted his “tremendous respect” for Pence, calling him “an incredible leader for the state of Indiana.”

Pence's radio endorsement of Cruz bore similarities to the last Midwestern governor to endorse him—Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who took to Charlie Sykes' Wisconsin radio show to tout Cruz the week before he trounced Trump by double digits.

Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, preempted the endorsement by downplaying its importance and suggesting that Pence’s choice is rooted in political considerations.

"Well, we've seen now that endorsements haven't had too much weight in many of these elections," Trump national spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told Fox News.

Even as she conceded that Pence’s backing might sway some undecided voters in favor of Cruz, Pierson made sure to note that the Texas senator has been mathematically eliminated from clinching the Republican nomination before the convention. Cruz is hoping that a win in Indiana will force a contested convention. His prospects look much better on a second ballot in July.

Following the announcement, Pierson told CNN that Pence took the “risk” of sort-of endorsing Cruz for his own politics. The governor is facing a reelection against former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg, who lost the race in 2012 by 3 percentage points.

“I think this quasi-endorsement was really more about the governor’s reelection more than it was about helping Sen. Ted Cruz,” she said. “We'll notice in his endorsement, he didn't say anything particularly bad about Mr. Trump and just that he was gonna vote for Sen. Cruz, but it’s wise of him, if he's going to support anyone, to try not to alienate anyone. This is a governor who had a tough race last time. He’s gonna have a tough race this time.”

After multiple outlets reported that Pence would be endorsing Cruz, Trump’s national campaign co-chair and policy adviser Sam Clovis said he was not surprised. Pence and Cruz, he mused to CNN, “are much more ideologically aligned on a lot of issues,” and he suggested that campaign contributions might be in play.

Seeking to lump Cruz, a conservative insurgent, in with the establishment, Clovis went on to say that Pence is “getting a lot of pressure from people they know, the mutual interests, the mutual contacts, the deep, deep establishment of the Republican party who have known — who know Gov. Pence and have known … Sen. Cruz for all these years, I think that pressure is what pushes people like Gov. Pence to endorse Sen. Cruz.”

Pence’s endorsement comes as Cruz is pulling out all the stops in Indiana: Earlier this week he and Kasich announced that they would cede certain states to each other in order to stop Trump from clinching the nomination (with Kasich saying he was backing out of Indiana), and on Wednesday, in a highly unusual move, Cruz unveiled his running mate, Carly Fiorina, who has been campaigning with him across the state.

