Republicans should stick to message, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn said on Thursday, adding that it was “inappropriate” for party leaders to work against a nominee who had been duly chosen by the electorate.
The remarks come after a Wednesday evening speech during which Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was heckled by Republican delegates for refusing to endorse Donald Trump. With respect to Cruz, Blackburn said, “I like him, have worked with him, and appreciate what he brings to the party. But I’m disappointed with what he said last night, that he would choose to speak to the convention, accept the invitation to speak, and then come and not provide an endorsement.
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“If he had just ended his speech by saying on November 8, I’m going to vote for Donald Trump, I think all would have been well had he done that. I think Senator Cruz did himself a disservice by the speech that he gave last night, and I was disappointed in that. I think many people were disappointed in that,” Blackburn told the Washington Examiner.
She said the same in reference to Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who on Wednesday said on Twitter that Republicans were “jumping the shark” when they made references to Hillary Clinton belonging in prison.
.@HillaryClinton now belongs in prison? C’mon. We can make the case that she shouldn’t be elected without jumping the shark.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 20, 2016
“It’s one of those things, if it were me, I would just leave it alone. [We’re] in public service,” Blackburn said. “Sometimes I kind of shudder when I read my Twitter feed or my Facebook posts and see what people are saying about me. That’s all part and parcel of the process. I don’t agree with the things being said, but it’s a free speech issue, so you just learn to push it aside.”
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She added that the media is using a few Republican dissidents to distract from the party’s broader message. “They continue to try and use, ‘Well, not every Republican is on board,'” Blackburn said. “No, and they’re not going to be.
“I would say you’ve still got three to five percent of Republicans, some of them are significant names, who are not on board,” she added. “But Donald Trump is our nominee, he is the standard bearer, he is the individual who people have elected in our party primary. It’s inappropriate for people to come in here and think they’re going to take that nomination from him.”
