In addition to your excellent points, I really don’t believe Cruz was as good a debater as everyone thought.
After observing him a few times, I could see that he just keeps talking and talking and won’t relent until the other person is so sick of his rude and obnoxious ranting that they just throw in the towel to get away from him.
It came to that with Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly and another interview whose name escapes me at the moment. They were so fed up they were rolling their eyes, losing their cool, etc. because he’s so arrogant and abrasive.
Yes I heard the conversation with Hannity on the radio you are talking about. He’s definitely a second rate debater. A first debater knows how to be respectful to his opponent and his audience.