May 03, 2016
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz bowed out of the 2016 presidential race Tuesday night after suffering a landslide defeat in Indiana to Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
After seven straight primary contests, Trump now holds 80 percent of the delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination. With his victory in Indiana, he has at least 1,041 delegates. Cruz has 565 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 152.
Reactions to Cruz's exit speech immediately poured in on Twitter — some funny, some harsh and some already looking ahead to the implications for the 2016 presidential race. Here's a selection of what people are saying.
Members of the crowd in tears as Cruz announces campaign suspension pic.twitter.com/xpUP3DXJjx
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) May 4, 2016
Reality of Donald Trump, nominee just hit Cruz party in Indianapolis like an H-bomb. "We're doomed," a woman cries.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) May 4, 2016
I'm sure Cruz's colleagues in the Senate will eagerly welcome him back pic.twitter.com/L2e4K67Ww4
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) May 4, 2016
I wonder what he's going to do next. pic.twitter.com/n1mrpBFZ8h
— Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) May 4, 2016
Ted Cruz ends campaign by accidentally hitting, elbowing his wife in the face pic.twitter.com/epO1tzKgTT
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) May 4, 2016
WATCH: Cruz accidentally hits wife in the head after dropping out https://t.co/OmKeOjxoMD https://t.co/GcURRp5MkJ
— The Hill (@thehill) May 4, 2016
There’s never a physical interaction between Heidi and Ted Cruz that doesn’t become awkward pic.twitter.com/Tmh1CHD9tZ
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) May 4, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016
So much for that Ted Cruz -- John Kasich alliance to stop Donald Trump https://t.co/MeprirwCXV #IndianaPrimary pic.twitter.com/KE6XFeBPD7
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 4, 2016
The face you make when you realize that Ted Cruz has unleashed Donald Trump on you... #IndianaPrimary pic.twitter.com/oCwUdOGTYY
— The Patriot (@ThePatriot143) May 4, 2016
Ted Cruz said "We must never stop our fight for freedom and our defense against tyranny!"
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) May 4, 2016
Then he quit
Your Cruz dropout game is strong, Twitter. Wait... have you had these ready in drafts?
— Amanda Katz (@katzish) May 4, 2016
Cruz volunteer just told me "We just lost the constitution because of the media — because people like you."
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) May 4, 2016
I guess you could say his Cruz has sailed.
— NICHOLAS MEGALIS (@nicholasmegalis) May 4, 2016
that big sigh you hear is from california.....they thought this was the year they'd really matter
— Michael Smerconish (@smerconish) May 4, 2016
Who did better after Fiorina came on board: Hewlett Packard or Ted Cruz?
— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) May 3, 2016
Sen. @TedCruz should be proud of his strong and disciplined campaign. Texas is lucky to have you. Best wishes going forward. -John
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) May 4, 2016
Thank you Indiana! #Trump2016#MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/G4JlShRA6I
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2016
hearing Ted Cruz dropped out then realizing that means Trump will be the GOP nominee pic.twitter.com/jFFD26t9ME
— ur dad (@fieriwap) May 4, 2016
Donald Trump: "We are going to win again and we are going to win bigly" pic.twitter.com/qViiOsUosK
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 4, 2016
Can we get a little Bernie Sanders coverage? @CNN @MSNBC
— Casey (@CaseycVT) May 4, 2016
¿Quién sería un equivalente de Bernie Sanders en Colombia? ¿Quién tan honesto, tan sabio y tan sensato?
— Constantino Villegas (@ConstantinoVil) May 4, 2016
Conservative commentators who destroyed their careers and sacrificed their audiences to hate on Trump have been condemned to the wilderness.
— Milo Yiannopoulos ✘ (@Nero) May 4, 2016
Oh - now pundits are defending their own utter stupidity and complete humiliation by claiming Trump himself never planned to win! B.S.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 4, 2016
A slimmer GOP field earlier on could have produced an alternative, but they all stayed in cause they assumed Trump would eventually implode.
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) May 4, 2016
Trump says Cruz’s decision to suspend campaign "very brave thing to do…a great thing to do” https://t.co/NOVd01BlN8 https://t.co/RJmGOgcv4a
— ABC News (@ABC) May 4, 2016
"Ted Cruz... is one hell of a competitor. He is a tough, smart guy," Trump says. Watch live: https://t.co/mBUpzWQWqY pic.twitter.com/0bqY2OlUl5
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 4, 2016
Every single time someone drops out, Trump is polite to them, and national reporters trample each other to slobber over the New Trump.
— Jesse Berney (@jesseberney) May 4, 2016
With Trump as the nominee, some #NeverTrump types bolt GOP and back Clinton https://t.co/M1tTVq58wQ pic.twitter.com/V5IDnytCfg
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) May 4, 2016
No matter how you feel about these candidates, the first Trump-Clinton debate will get bigly ratings. And I can't wait to watch.
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) May 4, 2016
Which are you more anxious about? #DNC #RNC
— DNC Philly (@dncphilly) May 3, 2016
wish i could spend the rest of the night on politics twitter but i GUESS i should return to my family vacation bye pic.twitter.com/Q1Xp5Hl4rJ
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) May 4, 2016
