Ted Cruz discussed his strategic alliance with Ohio Gov. John Kasich to prevent Donald Trump from getting enough delegates to clinch the party’s nomination.
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But late this afternoon, John Kasich told reporters “I’ve never told them not to vote for me”.
“I have said, ‘Come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people.’ You know, at some point, if you want to be president of the United States, you gotta get familiar with the United States”.
Delegates are pledged to a candidate on the first ballot of the convention, but if it goes to a second ballot, delegates can vote for whoever they like.
Finally, the charge of collusion might only play into the narrative of a rigged system that Trump voters – and many Republicans – are already buying.
Bob McIntyre agrees, saying, the Kasich-Cruz plan is “going to harm the process immensely”. Ted Cruz of Texas continued his attack on Donald Trump on April 24 with a cross-dressing joke that mocked the front-runner’s support for transgender people using the bathroom that matches their gender identity (video below).
Washington state’s Republican primary is in May. In return, the Cruz campaign will “clear the path” for Kasich in OR and New Mexico.
Most states GOP convention delegates are picked on a winner-take-all or proportional basis, but in Pennsylvania, 54 Republican delegates aren’t bound to a candidate and do not have to announce their intent before Tuesday. The Indiana primaries offer a big win, as 57 delegates are at stake.
In the Democratic race, former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is looking to tighten her grip on the nomination after her big NY win, but Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says he is still in contention.
“If you collude in business, or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail”, Trump said as he campaigned in Rhode Island. “It shows how pathetic they are”.
Richards said he’s not anxious such a deal will keep Trump from winning the nomination before the GOP convention in July, but that it should still be illegal.
2016 presidential candidate John Kasich.
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FiveThirtyEight also predicts Trump wins in all five states, though its state-by-state analysis finds a few spots where Kasich could sneak wins. He enters the day with 845 delegates, 392 short of the 1,237 needed to represent his party in the general election in November. “I don’t think it matters one bit right now”, he said.
