After Saturday’s contests, Clinton had 1,121 delegates, almost half the 2,383 needed to win the Democratic nomination.
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Partial returns showed Cruz and Trump locked in a close race in Kentucky.
At his news conference in Florida, where Rubio is under intense pressure to win later this month, Trump also congratulated Cruz for his victories.
Until recently, Mr Cruz was considered singularly unpalatable to many of his own GOP colleagues, yet he now looks increasingly like the party’s only plausible alternative to Mr Trump. The tally on the Democratic side is 12 wins for Clinton and seven for Sanders.
Looking ahead on the primary calendar, Graham said, “I hope Rubio wins Florida, I hope Kasich wins OH, but if I have to support Ted Cruz over Donald Trump, I would”.
Speaking last night in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr Trump urged Marco Rubio to drop out of the race, after the Florida Senator suffered another poor set of results, including a fourth-place finish in Maine.
“I think what it represents is Republicans coalescing, saying it would be a disaster for Donald Trump to be our nominee and we’re going to stand behind the strongest conservative in the race”, he said.
Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, said Cruz is indeed “emerging” as the chief anti-Trump candidate.
“I don’t think all 61 million should be president of the United States”. Rubio, who’s only win came in the March 1 Minnesota caucuses, trailed well behind Trump and Cruz in Saturday’s contests. Rubio had 110 delegates and Kasich had 25.
A presidential hopeful has to secure at least 1237 delegates’ votes to become a candidate from the Republican party.
Trump said it was time for Marco Rubio to exit the race. But his victory won’t have much impact on Clinton’s substantial edge overall, thanks to her support among superdelegates – members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice.
There were a total of 155 Republican delegates at stake Saturday in Kansas, Maine, Kentucky and Louisiana.
The headline links to an Associated Press analysis of the Super Saturday fallout, where Rubio gets some brief mentions-primarily referring to calls for his campaign’s suspension.
In an interview on Sunday, Clinton downplayed the legal uncertainty of the ongoing inquiry by federal investigators into her use of a private email server for her work as secretary of state. Both Cruz and Trump have run on anti-establishment messages and have put the party establishment in their crosshairs.
Clinton and Sanders compete later Sunday in Maine’s nominating contest and face off in a televised debate in Flint, Michigan, just two days before a crucial primary in that delegate-rich northern industrial state.
Mr Trump, in his victory speech in Florida on Saturday night, declared himself primed for a head-on contest between himself and Mr Cruz. Cruz’s victory on Saturday and his successes in four other states earlier may help him bolstering his argument that he can defeat Trump in a head-to-head fight.
The Clinton campaign had sought to lower expectations in Kansas and Nebraska, saying this week in a memo from campaign manager Robby Mook that Sanders has “as clear advantages and is investing heavily” there and that Clinton has a larger lead in pledged delegates than Obama ever had in his victorious 2008 primary with Clinton. Only Texas and Georgia have contributed more than 32 delegates to Trump so far. They have accused Trump of feigning conservative values and fooling voters with promises he can not keep.
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“No matter who wins this Democratic nomination”, she said, “I have not the slightest doubt that on our worst day we will be infinitely better than the Republicans on their best day”.
