Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson suggested on Thursday that Ted Cruz’s refusal to endorse GOP nominee Donald Trump during his convention speech was merely a disguised way to say to endorse him.
“Well, he did say to vote for Gary Johnson, didn’t he? And that was ‘vote your conscience’,” Johnson said in an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, before breaking into laughter.
Cruz, who dropped out the presidential race in May following a devastating loss to the real estate magnate in Indiana, declined to endorse Trump at the Republican convention on Wednesday night, encouraging voters instead to “stand, speak, and vote your conscience.”
During his speech, Cruz also underscored the need to uphold the Constitution. “Don’t stay home in November,” he instructed. The statement was immediately met a chorus of boos from an already tense floor.
When Cuomo mentioned Newt Gingrich’s own interpretation of Cruz’s defiant speech — namely, that he was implicitly endorsing Trump because he was the only candidate who could “protect the Constitution ” — Johnson immediately responded that he, too, “certainly would uphold the Constitution” as president before taking a jab at Trump’s disregard for First Amendment laws.
“First Amendment?” Johnson said. “What’s that? First Amendment, that’s in the Constitution of the United States.[…] We are a country governed by laws and the heart of those laws are the Constitution.”
