It’s not a joke. And it isn’t that hard to see, if, and that is a big ‘IF’, you understand that Trump is all about showmanship.
Trump calls people names, he harangues them, he makes outrageous claims, and then, once he has felt out where the substance is in a situation, he sits down and deals.
He has thrown everything at Cruz, and unlike Bush, or Fiorina, or Carson, or Rubio, Cruz has stood firm and not lost ground. He likes that about Cruz and he can work with Cruz as a result.
What most Trump supporters fail to realize, and by fail I mean “willfully keep themselves ignorant of”, is that Trump doesn’t believe his bluster, his sturm und drang, his provocations.
He uses his rhetoric to stir up emotions and try to throw his opponents off their game.
As a result, he can call someone a whack-job, declare that they are unfit for public company, say that they are a hopeless loser, and then an hour later offer them a deal or a job. And those that take his words as sincere, and repeat them in all earnestness, are left scratching their heads at how he could embrace someone he just trashed so thoroughly.
tl:dr version
Donald Trump doesn’t believe his own rhetoric and that is why I don’t trust where his beliefs are.
Me, neither, but 4 years of Trump/Cruz then 8 years of Cruz/? with 100 million voters attacking the Left is what it’s going to take to fix the US after 100 years of commie destruction.