Cruz dodges question on whether Trump fit to serve, just a day after endorsement

Sen. Ted Cruz has tied the internet domain issue to a government-funding bill. Sen. Ted Cruz has tied the internet domain issue to a government-funding bill. Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke, FRE Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke, FRE Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Cruz dodges question on whether Trump fit to serve, just a day after endorsement 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- Less than a day after endorsing Republican Donald Trump for president, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday repeatedly refused to say whether he thinks the flamboyant and controversial New York tycoon is fit to serve in the nation's highest office.

Appearing at the Texas Tribune Festival, Cruz reiterated that endorsed Trump because the November election is a "binary choice" between Hillary Clinton and Trump -- and that he thinks a Clinton presidency would be a disastrous choice.

At one pointing the hour-long one-on-one interview before a large audience, Tribune CEO Evan Smith noted that Cruz, during the bitter GOP primary campaign that Cruz and 15 other candidates ended up losing to Trump, is he stood by his earlier harsh criticism of Trump.

During the campaign, Cruz had called Trump "utterly immoral," "a sniveling coward," "a pathological liar," "a serial philanderer" and a bully.

Cruz responded that he does not think it would be "productive for me to criticize the Republican nominee" he endorsed on Friday, after withholding his support since Trump became the GOP nominee at the Republican National Convention in July.

Smith then asked: "Do you consider Donald Trump to be fit to be president?"

"We have one of two choices," Cruz answered.

"I have had many, many disagreements with Donald Trump," Cruz said at another point. "I have not been at all reluctant to articulate exactly why I believe that I should be the nominee instead of him."

But, "we are in a general election now. I don't think it is productive for me to criticize the Republican nominee.

"At the end of the day, it's not about me," he told Smith.

Cruz' refusal to answer specifics about Trump did not set with some in the large crowd at the University of Texas campus. Some Cruz comments were booed, and at other times he received light applause when he detailed the conservative principles he stands by.

During the primary campaign, Trump had criticized the appearance of Cruz's wife Heidi, in a retweet, and had repeated unsubstantiated and false speculation about whether Cruz's Cuban-born father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. Cruz called out Trump and the issue between the two men became personal.

On Saturday, Cruz said he had discussed the comments with wife and father. The three decided to forgive Trump, he said, even though Trump has never offered an apology.

In the end, Cruz said, he and his family felt that protecting the future of constitutional government through the nomination of principled conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court and advancing policies that will better protect Americans and the economy led to his public support of Trump.

"Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president," Cruz said.