Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas led off his address at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday by highlighting the absence of 2016 GOP presidential rival Donald Trump, who has cancelled his planned Saturday appearance.

“So Donald Trump is skipping CPAC. I bet somebody told him Megyn Kelly was going to be here. Or even worse, he was told there were conservatives that were going to be here,” Mr. Cruz said.

Mr. Cruz, who is pitching himself as the only conservative in the race who can stop Mr. Trump’s path to the nomination, was greeted by a screaming crowd and chants of “Ted! Ted! Ted!” before he even spoke.

“Or even worse, he was told there were libertarians who were going to be here,” Mr. Cruz said to cheers. “Or even worse, they were told there were young people who were going to be here.”

A small chant of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” was then drowned out by a resounding chorus of boos.

Mr. Trump’s campaign said earlier Friday that his Saturday schedule, which includes stops in Kansas and Florida, won’t allow him to speak at CPAC.

“Mr. Trump would like to thank Matt Schlapp and all of the executives at CPAC and looks forward to returning to next year, hopefully as president of the United States,” the campaign said.

Mr. Cruz urged conservatives who don’t want Mr. Trump to be the party’s nominee to coalesce around his own campaign, and said the billionaire businessman hasn’t been reliable on issues like immigration.

“I’m told that Donald Trump talks a fair amount about immigration,” he said. “There’s a natural question to ask. During the Gang of Eight battle, where was Donald?”

“Well, sadly, worse than nowhere,” he said. “Donald was funding the Gang of Eight. He gave over $50,000 to five of the eight members of the Gang of Eight.”