Cruz and Kasich, who are facing a potential wipeout in the national presidential nominating contests on Tuesday, teamed up against Trump, provoking a barrage of new attacks from the business mogul.
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The statement says that Ohio Gov. John Kasich would not be campaigning in IN to instead focus their efforts and resources in New Mexico and Oregon. After Kasich told his IN supporters Monday morning to vote for him, his chief strategist, John Weaver, tweeted: “We’re not telling voters who to vote for IN IN” – referring to IN – “only where we are going to spend resources to ultimately defeat Hillary”.
Kasich said Monday he’s not the desperate one on the campaign trail. “They’re very fearful that we’re going to end up in an open convention”, Kasich told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I think that made sense for both campaigns”.
Poll: Do you back Trump in GOP delegate fight? .
“You know, if you collude in business or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail”.
“Trump added that numerous Republican candidates would still be in the running if they said, “‘I’m not getting out, I don’t care'”.
“They colluded and actually I was happy because it shows how weak they are”, Trump said at a campaign rally in Warwick, Rhode Island.
John Kasich’s chief strategist, John Weaver, said in a statement: “Due to the fact that the in primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in IN is critical to keeping him under 1,237 bound delegates before Cleveland”.
Indiana, where voters will head to the polls in two weeks, is poised to be significantly more important than the OR primary, which won’t take place until May 17th, OR, really, any of the primaries left on the calendar. “I will win!” Trump recently tweeted.
Kasich will step back in the May 3 in contest to let Cruz bid without interference for voters who don’t like Trump. “I’m not going to spend resources in Indiana”.
In exchange, Cruz will cede the states of New Mexico and OR to Kasich. “I’d say, children, small little bites”, Trump said. Cruz has 559 and Kasich has 148.
Mr Kasich tried to play down the deal, saying that voters in IN “ought to” back him, despite his agreement with the Texan.
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That means Trump will have to defy the odds with particularly strong showings through the remainder of the statewide contests if he is to win the nomination outright before the party’s delegates gather in Cleveland in July to pick their nominee.
