Senator Ted Cruz said Friday that he would vote for Donald Trump for president, two months after Cruz pointedly declined to endorse his former rival in a speech at the Republican National Convention.

“After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,’’ Cruz wrote in a statement posted on Facebook.

Though Cruz and his aides had never ruled out an endorsement, many in his orbit had chafed at the prospect of supporting a man who had so viciously attacked the Texas senator during the primaries.

Support from Cruz could jeopardize the senator’s professed reputation for conservative ideological purity, given Trump’s shape-shifting political views, which Cruz delighted in highlighting during his presidential campaign. And by voicing support so late, the senator also risks feeding a perception, rampant among Senate colleagues, that he is a cynical political operator.

“I think it’s the worst political miscalculation of my lifetime,’’ said Steve Deace, a prominent Iowa conservative radio host who supported Cruz’s presidential bid. “I hope I am wrong. The people will decide that.’’

New York Times