--- title: Transcript of Ted Cruz Speech When He Didn't Endorse Trump description: The Texas Senator did not back the party's nominee at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday canonical: https://time.com/4416741/ted-cruz-trump-rnc-full-transcript/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-21T12:00:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:42:44.205Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Speech Cruz Gave When He Wouldn't Endorse Trump og:description: The Texas Senator did not back the party's nominee at the convention Wednesday. og:url: https://time.com/4416741/ted-cruz-trump-rnc-full-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145f1a6a311663ff/69889d000a4a22f9a59ca8d0/ted-cruz-speech-convention.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: ted cruz speech convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Speech Cruz Gave When He Wouldn't Endorse Trump twitter:description: The Texas Senator did not back the party's nominee at the convention Wednesday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145f1a6a311663ff/69889d000a4a22f9a59ca8d0/ted-cruz-speech-convention.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Speech Ted Cruz Gave When He Wouldn't Endorse Donald Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=31bbfceb-3618-40ce-b9b3-637055a85f6d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Delegates Boo Ted Cruz From the Floor [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Delegates Boo Ted Cruz From the Floor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ruZTazpM.m3u8) (1:03)  _Published 2016-07-21. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made a big gamble on 2020 with his speech at the Republican national convention Wednesday, snubbing nominee Donald Trump with a non-endorsement._  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 21, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made a big gamble on 2020 with his speech at the Republican national convention Wednesday, snubbing nominee Donald Trump with a non-endorsement.  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 21, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland Wednesday night was missing one notable talking point: [an endorsement](http://time.com/4416260/republican-convention-ted-cruz-speech/) for the party’s presidential nominee, [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4397249/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting-rnc/). In the speech that ran for more than 20 minutes, Cruz was able to take jabs at Hillary Clinton and position himself as a champion of conservative values. But as he delayed even saying Trump’s name, he was able to tell listeners, “vote your conscience.” The audience did not take warmly to his advice. Read a [full transcript](http://time.com/4416396/republican-convention-ted-cruz-donald-trump-endorsement-speech-transcript-video/) of his convention speech below. --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:00] Stand and speak and vote your conscience. Vote [00:04] for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to [00:08] defend our freedom and to be faithful to the [00:11] Constitution. [ APPLAUSE ] [ CROSSTALK ] Trump! [00:11] Trump, Trump, Trump [ APPLAUSE ] [ SOUND ] I [00:54] appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation. 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