A jubilant Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called his victory in the Wisconsin primary a “turning point” in the 2016 Republican race during a Tuesday night speech at his state campaign headquarters.
“As a result of tonight, as a result of the people of Wisconsin defying the media, the pundits, I’m more and more convinced our campaign is going to earn the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination,” Cruz told the crowd.
The Texas senator claimed his campaign earned $2 million on Tuesday alone and was rapidly catching up to his Republican presidential rival Donald Trump in delegates after a string of primary wins in the Western U.S. in the past two weeks.
Cruz scarcely made mention of Trump by name during the address, though he seemed to be speaking around his GOP rival for much of it.
At one point, he turned to his wife Heidi, who stood beside him on the stage, prompting supporters burst into an extended chant of “Heidi! Heidi!”
“Isn’t she going to make an amazing first lady?” Cruz asked the cheering crowd, as individual fans could be heard shouting “We love you, Heidi!”
Trump and Cruz spent last week locked in an ugly spat about their wives that led to Trump retweeting an unflattering photograph of Cruz’s wife and Cruz calling Trump a “sniveling coward.”
Yet the Texas senator spent the bulk of his address running through his stump speech about repealing Obamacare, shredding the Iran nuclear deal, and bringing jobs back to the U.S. Instead of positioning himself in opposition to Trump, Cruz framed himself as the likely Republican nominee.
He wound up the speech with a challenge to his Democratic rival: “Let me just say: Hillary, get ready. Here we come.”
