The Slatest

Ted Cruz Drops Out, and the GOP Is Donald Trump’s Party Now

Ted Cruz hugs short-lived running-mate Carly Fiorina just before announcing that he is suspending his campaign for president.

Chris Bergin/Reuters

Sen. Ted Cruz, after putting everything he had into the Indiana primary, officially ended his presidential campaign Tuesday night after getting pummeled by Donald Trump in the Hoosier State. There never was any plan to keep going to Nebraska and Washington and eventually California no matter the results in Indiana. This was it. 

“From the beginning I’ve said that I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory,” Cruz said in his speech Tuesday night. “Tonight I’m sorry to say”—here, cries of “No!” began to break out from the crowd—“it appears that path has been foreclosed.”

“Together we left it all on the field in Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path and so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long term future of our nation we are suspending our campaign.”

Cruz did not attack Trump in his speech.

Cruz had tried everything in Indiana: an alliance with John Kasich to keep him out of Indiana, the selection of a would-be vice presidential candidate, an endorsement from the state’s governor. In a press gaggle Tuesday—his final, as it turned out—he simply said every nasty thing he had in his mind about Donald Trump. That was a last gasp effort to persuade voters, sure. But it also seemed to be him asking the same question that all other Republicans (except John Kasich, who we’re not counting) have had to ask themselves: How did I lose to … that?

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.