Rubio Louisiana Delegates Under Fire: No, We Haven’t Backed Ted Cruz

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks to the media about events in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, near the Capitol in Washington. Cruz said he would use the "full force and fury" of the... Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks to the media about events in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, near the Capitol in Washington. Cruz said he would use the "full force and fury" of the U.S. military to defeat the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) MORE LESS
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Following complaints from Donald Trump that Louisiana delegates formerly bound to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) might back Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at the Republican National Convention in July, four of the five delegates that had been bound to Rubio have signed an open letter clarifying that they have not yet committed to a new candidate, according to The Hill.

“I’m reading all over social media and the press that we’re going one way as a group, but that’s just not accurate,” Luke Letlow, a Rubio delegate, told The Hill. “It’s left us to get the message out that we haven’t chosen a side and that we remain uncommitted.”

Trump and Cruz were both awarded the same number of delegates following the Louisiana primary. But at the Louisiana Republican convention, delegates supporting Cruz won five of six spots on the committees that set rules, credentials and the party platform at the national convention in July. And the Wall Street Journal reported that the delegates that had been bound to Rubio were expected to ultimately back Cruz.

Four of the five delegates previously bound to Rubio wrote in the letter that they will not select a new candidate until the convention in July, according to The Hill.

“Any reporting of our intention to support one candidate over another before that time is simply not accurate,” the letter reads, according to The Hill.

Leslie Tassin, Sr., another delegate who signed the letter, told The Hill that he still hasn’t made up his mind about who to support in lieu of Rubio.

“Half my friends say Trump, the other half say Cruz, so they’re not helping me out. Some mornings I wake up leaning one way, others I wake up leaning another,” he said.

Tassin and another delegate, Kirk Williamson, told The Hill that they’ve both been contacted by the Trump campaign, but not by Cruz.

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Notable Replies

  1. Luke Letlow, a Rubio delegate, told The Hill. “It’s left us to get the message out that we haven’t chosen a side and that we remain uncommitted.”

    he later clarified by saying that while not committed we are well medicated… we’re also willing to be lubed with copious amounts of cash…

  2. Trump: Its already working. I give it a week and then they would support me. In about a month, all of Cruz’s delegate will abandon him and support me. I have lots of money and power.
    Cruz: New York values can be detrimental to non-New Yorkers.

  3. “Tassin and another delegate, Kirk Williamson, told The Hill that they’ve both been contacted by the Trump campaign, but not by Cruz.”

    Leave it to TrumpCo to accuse someone else of what they themselves have done! Maybe ElDonald is a GOPer after all…

  4. Clinton: Republican values can be detrimental to everyone.
    Sanders: I’ll give you free stuff and make the rich pay for it!

  5. Funny how people talk about “free stuff” like subsidized public college tuition but never mention “free” aircraft carriers.

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