Cruz Promises Major Announcement At Indy Rally
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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Senator Ted Cruz is expected to make a major announcement Wednesday during a rally in Indianapolis.
Cruz, who has vowed to stay in the race despite Donald Trump's runaway wins in Tuesday's primaries, indicated the announcement may have to do with a vice presidential pick but wouldn't say for sure.
The rally is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m. CBS4 will stream it live.
Both Cruz and Trump see the Indiana as a crucial state as they pursue different paths to winning the GOP nomination.
Cruz is looking for an Indiana victory next Tuesday to block Trump from scoring a majority of delegates before the convention this summer. Trump, coming off a sweep on Tuesday in five Northeastern states, hopes another victory in Indiana will make it nearly impossible for Cruz to play on.
And they both know the allure of basketball to the state's voters.
Indiana is the state where Larry Bird grew into a legend. Basketball hoops dot the landscape across the state, from suburban backyards around the biggest city Indianapolis to out of the way places like Knightstown where Cruz stopped on Tuesday. In an allusion to one of "Hoosiers" most famous scenes, Cruz had one of his aides drop a tape measure from the top of one of the baskets to show it's the same 10-feet height as all the others.
Actor Gene Hackman, who played the coach of a small town Indiana team, did the same thing in the film to calm his team down before they played in the state championship.
But what should have been a slam dunk for Cruz quickly turned into a foul Tuesday night when he appeared to refer to the hoop as a "basketball ring" while recreating a scene from the famous film "Hoosiers."
Cruz acknowledged his gaffe while speaking to reporters Wednesday in Indianapolis, saying "I stumbled while speaking."
"The point of that observation is the power brokers in Washington want this race to be over and the media over and over again is repeating Donald Trump's spin that the race is over," he said. Cruz joked that his campaign team wanted him to run laps for making the mistake.
As he recreated the scene, his supporters, who sat on wooden bleachers, and watched from the basketball court floor, roared their approval.
"There is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do," Cruz said.
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