Spine Check
Family insulted → ‘enthusiastic’ endorsement: the Cruz capitulation pattern
Statement date: 2026
Action date: 2016-09-23
Outcome: Personal attacks were followed by endorsements and alignment.
Action date: 2016-09-23
Outcome: Personal attacks were followed by endorsements and alignment.
Spine Card
Person: Ted Cruz — U.S. Senator (TX)
Statement date: 2016-03-24
Action date: 2016-09-23
Outcome: Personal attacks were followed by endorsements and alignment.
Statement date: 2016-03-24
Action date: 2016-09-23
Outcome: Personal attacks were followed by endorsements and alignment.
What was said (and done)
During the 2016 primary, Trump circulated an attack on Cruz’s wife and promoted a false insinuation about Cruz’s father. The episode became a public test: is there any line that can’t be crossed?
What happened next
Cruz ultimately endorsed Trump and has repeated that choice in subsequent cycles. The “spine check” is the gap between the humiliation and the later political loyalty.
Receipts timeline
2016-03
Trump attacks Cruz’s wife; controversy and backlash follow.
2016-09
Cruz endorses Trump despite the earlier attacks.
2024
Cruz again endorses Trump, described as “enthusiastic” by observers.
Bottom line
The record isn’t ambiguous: public line-crossing happened first. Endorsements happened later. That’s why this goes in the ledger.