Cruz ends presidential campaign

Ted Cruz suspended his presidential campaign Tuesday night after losing Indiana, leaving Donald Trump as the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee.

Stunned supporters in Indianapolis shouted “no!” as Cruz announced he no longer has a path to the GOP presidential nomination.

{mosads}”Tonight, I’m sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz said. “Together we left it all on the field in Indiana. We gave it everything we 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 mention Trump in his farewell speech.

Trump will end the night fewer than 200 delegates shy of the 1,237 needed to win the nomination outright. 

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is still in the race, but he has been an afterthought and still trails Marco Rubio in delegates. Rubio has been out of the race for weeks.

Kasich, who announced earlier in the night he’s staying in the race, called Cruz “strong and disciplined” and wished him luck going forward.

Cruz on Tuesday said he’d continue to fight for the conservative causes he pushed in his campaign.

“We are not suspending our fight for liberty,” Cruz said. “I’m not suspending our fight to defend the Constitution, to defend the Judeo-Christian values that built America. Our efforts will continue and I give you my word that I will continue this fight with all of my strength and all of my ability.”

The Texas senator had said he would stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer and predicted he would beat Trump in a floor fight for delegates. 

He had consistently defeated Trump in the inside game of getting supporters elected as delegates, and many believed that if Trump fell short, Cruz would emerge as the nominee at a contested convention.

But there were signs this week that Cruz’s chance was slipping away.  

As polls showed Trump’s growing dominance over the Texas senator in Indiana, desperation began to creep into Cruz’s tactics.  

On Monday, he dramatically clashed with Trump supporter, who repeatedly called him “Lyin’ Ted” and told Cruz that Indiana would reject him for the billionaire businessman. It all played out in front of TV cameras and quickly went viral. 

And just hours before the Indiana polls closed Tuesday, Cruz threw every insult he could muster at Trump, ditching his long-standing promise to refrain from making personal attacks against his rivals.

Cruz labeled Trump a “pathological liar,” a “serial philanderer,” a bully, “utterly amoral,” and a narcissist.

Those attacks came after Trump openly discussed a sensational tabloid story connecting Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.

Cruz’s family — his mother, father, wife and two daughters — flanked him onstage for his farewell address.

So did Carly Fiorina, who Cruz brought on as a running mate just a week ago to give his campaign a shot in the arm ahead of the Indiana primary.

“It has been my great privilege and honor to stand by and fight alongside one of the great citizens of this extraordinary nation,” Fiorina said as she introduced Cruz. “The Ted Cruz I’ve come to know favors substance over sloganeering. Favors respect over insults. It’s been my great privilege and honor to get to know him.”

Cruz failed to take Indiana  even after his campaign and a handful of Never Trump groups spent huge sums of money in the state. 

A short-term alliance with Kasich, who pulled his resources from the state last week, also fizzled.

With Cruz gone, a Trump nomination now appears inevitable.

Updated at 9:12 p.m.