He also seemed to write off the candidacy of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, referring to “the three of us competing for the delegates that remain”.
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Sean Davis of The Federalist noted Mr Trump had won 62 percent of the delegates prior to Super Tuesday, 43 percent on the day, and only 30 percent thereafter.
Those close to the process said Bloomberg had believed the dominance of Trump among Republicans and the rise of Sanders amid Democrats had opened a centrist lane for a non-ideological, pragmatic campaign.
Trump entered Tuesday’s contests facing questions about his durability and ended the night with convincing victories in primaries in MS and MI and in caucuses in Hawaii.
Clinton’s advantages were expected to deliver her the state, especially after becoming an early supporter of efforts to help Flint, where high lead levels in the tap water have sparked a public health crisis.
But a strong showing for him in MI could blunt Trump’s momentum and set up a crucial do-or-die showdown for his campaign in OH next week. But with 150 Republican and 179 Democratic delegates to the parties’ national nominating conventions at stake, the races offer an opportunity for front-runners to pad leads and rivals to catch up. Trump, the Republican front-runner, was seeking to assert his strength with the state’s white, working-class voters, as was Democrat Bernie Sanders, underscoring the surprising candidates’ overlapping populist appeal.
That’s according to preliminary results of exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.
Clinton and Sanders have clashed repeatedly in recent days over issues that are vital to MI voters.
When it came to Sanders’ relationship to business, about 3 in 10 Democratic voters said he was too anti-business, while close to half said Sanders views on business are about right.
Polls had shown Clinton with a double-digit lead going into the primary.
Tuesday’s contests are a warm-up act for even more crucial ones to be held a week later that will include primaries in OH and Florida, where the victor in each state will get all of the delegates.
Rubio has received endorsements from a steady stream of senators, governors and other high-profile Republican officials.
And in the general election, Clinton would start with an advantage over Trump in both states, leading in Florida and OH by 7 percentage points.
Rubio, 44 – the favorite of a Republican establishment alarmed by Trump’s controversial proposals and anxious about Cruz’s uncompromising conservatism – lagged in MI polls and needs a win in his home state next week to keep his campaign alive.
While Trump remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination, Republicans like former presidential contender Mitt Romney have urged their party’s voters to back Cruz or Rubio, whom they say would have a greater chance of defeating the Democratic nominee.
During a campaign stop at a North Carolina church on Tuesday, Cruz took on Trump for asking rally attendees to raise their hands and pledge their allegiance to him.
“I think he’s probably the most conservative choice for our country”, said Laura Cummings, a 24-year-old registered nurse who voted for Cruz in Richland. “You can tell by his body language that he doesn’t really respect women”. Kasich only had 37 delegates heading into Tuesday night, making him a distant fourth behind Florida Sen.
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Before Tuesday’s contests, Clinton had 1,134 delegates to Sanders’ 499.
