Actually, the Freepers that supported and donated to Cruz last year, saw a different Cruz emerge this year. They saw a Cruz who surrounded himself with scumbags and scoundrels, and who allowed himself to be controlled by the establishment to stop Trump while living a fantasy that he was some sort of outsider.
There were a lot of Freepers that were astonished, hurt, angered, in disbelief that his Cruz person could be so stupid as to act the way he did. Oh sure, he could talk Constitution and push some conservative buttons, but he revealed to reasonable people, people that had supported him, that he had a screw loose.
He turned out to be an embarrassment. Now those erstwhile supporters can’t stand to hear him or see him, and they certainly don’t want him in any position of authority.
His “naysayers” as you call them, are a lot smarter about behavior than you can know, and they know he’s bad news.
I was finished with Cruz when he blamed Trump for the actions of the protestors in Chicago who caused Trump to cancel his rally. These were communists and anarchists paid to silence Trump. It had nothing to do with Trump’s language or actions.
As a Cruz voter on March 1, your post tells it all. That’s why I had no trouble going with Trump. If I could stomach the past nominees, why not Trump?