On Thursday's Situation Room, CNN's Scottie Nell Hughes claimed that Ted Cruz's controversial speech at the Republican National Convention "killed conservatism" or "severely damaged it, at the very least." The Trump supporter outlined that "those that were on the outskirts of conservatism...[who] were, sort of, in the Cruz movement" caused an "embarrassment;" and that supposedly, Cruz "not only ended his career, but...ended the Tea Party...[and] everything that he represented" with his speech. Former Cruz employee Amanda Carpenter and Republican strategist Kevin Madden pushed back against her claim. [video below]
Anchor Anderson Cooper turned to Hughes for her take on Senator Cruz's address. The recently-hired political commentator first contended that the speech "did help for Donald Trump," and continued with her "killed conservatism" and "ended the Tea Party" assertions. Carpenter retorted that what "has been revealed in the last 24 hours: the Trump campaign is really obsessed with, sort of, humiliating and killing conservatives represented by Ted Cruz." She added that Cruz's remarks were a "disciplining exercise in holding the party accountable....[Trump] hasn't convinced us that he will uphold the principles of freedom....Donald Trump has to be a better candidate if he wants more Republicans to support him."
Hughes returned fired by asserting that the Texas senator "insulted 14 million people. And that was not the right thing. This was not the place. He should have just stayed home." When Carpenter countered that "we deserve better, like Scott Walker said in his speech," the Trump supporter replied, "Scott Walker was a statesman who came out of it. Ted Cruz, unfortunately, was the one that was a sore loser, and it was obvious."
Madden then responded to Hughes: "You just said that conservatism is dead, and...I disagree with you tremendously." He continued that "principles don't defend themselves. So, they require people who believe deeply in those principals to defend them; and that was what Ted Cruz believed what he was doing last night." The CNN commentator interjected by asking, "You don't think there was anything selfish?" The strategist answered by claiming that Trump "has to try very hard to provide a sense of unity for the party. And he has to address principled conservatives who, right now, are in opposition of him or are skeptical of them...And to not acknowledge that right now and to dismiss that principled opposition is a huge mistake."
The transcript of the relevant portion of the panel discussion from CNN's The Situation Room on July 21, 2016:
ANDERSON COOPER: Scottie?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely. I think it did help — I think it did help for Donald Trump. But the problem is, it actually, I think, killed conservatism, because — severely damaged it, at the very least. It's what you did. You had those that were on the — the outskirts of conservatism — those that were, sort of, in the [Ted] Cruz movement — now, they're saying, nope. This is going to come out of this party — out of this week — as an embarrassment. We don't want to be an embarrassment going into the Democrats' [convention]. We don't want to sit there and be an — an opera story, like she pointed out, going into the Democrats — who might be more organized than us. I think today — last night, unfortunately, what Senator Cruz did — not only ended his career, but it, kind of, ended — it ended the Tea Party; it ended everything that he represented with those actions last night. And I think — you know, you stay classy, conservatives — because that's not what we saw last night.
AMANDA CARPENTER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. TED CRUZ: There's one thing about that — and this has been revealed in the last 24 hours: the Trump campaign is really obsessed with, sort of, humiliating and killing conservatives represented by Ted Cruz. And people are just saying, his career is over; it's dead; it's positioning for 2020 — no no, no. This is a disciplining exercise in holding the party accountable. We do not know how Donald Trump would keep America safe, truly. We do not know how he would go and kill ISIS.
Ted Cruz didn't say, I will never endorse you. He's saying, I'm not doing it right now, because he hasn't convinced us that he will uphold the principles of freedom. We don't know who his advisers are. We are going into very dangerous territory, and Donald Trump has to be a better candidate if he wants more Republicans to support him—
HUGHES: What are you talking about, Amanda? He has laid this plan out since day one. Jeff Sessions — he's laid out how he's going to take out ISIS. He's going to take the oil—
CARPENTER: There was a—
HUGHES: He has the policies out there, And I'm sorry that the American—
CARPENTER: What happened with NATO in the last 24 hours?
HUGHES: And so, what you're doing is you're insulting the 14 million people — Ted Cruz last night insulted 14 million people. And that was not the right thing. This was not the place. He should have just stayed home—
CARPENTER: We deserve better, like Scott Walker said in his speech—
HUGHES: Well, yes — Scott Walker was a statesman who came out of it. Ted Cruz, unfortunately, was the one that was a sore loser, and it was obvious—
ANDERSON: Kevin? Kevin?
KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'm sorry. You just said that conservatism is dead, and I couldn't — I disagree with you tremendously. And I think conservatism — what it requires — principles don't defend themselves. So, they require people who believe deeply in those principles to defend them; and that was what Ted Cruz believed what he was doing last night. And I think one of the big problems—
HUGHES: You don't think there was anything selfish?
MADDEN: No; no. I think there's — there's always — you know, self-advancement there — that's absolutely true. But look, I think one of the big problems and one of the challenges that's going to be here tonight for Donald Trump, is he has to come out of this with a sense of unity. He has to try very hard to provide a sense of unity for the party. And he has to address principled conservatives who, right now, are in opposition of him or are skeptical of them — as much as he has to go out and convince those undecided voters that are going to make or break this election. And to not acknowledge that right now and to dismiss that principled opposition is a huge mistake. He's not going to win with 80 percent of Republican voters—
COOPER: You know—
HUGHES: But how did he dismiss it?
MADDEN: He's going to win with ninety.
