Trump is the second republican candidate to visit the Ocean State within the last week.
Advertisement
Ted Cruz and John Kasich are sudden allies – but they’re not friends.
“We’ve seen from victories in places like OH and Wisconsin that when #NeverTrump forces unite behind the one alternative that’s better suited to that state that we can beat Trump decisively”, Rory Cooper, a senior adviser for the #NeverTrump group, said in a statement. Cruz will focus on Indiana’s May 3 primary without competition from Kasich, while Cruz will stand aside in favor of Kasich in Oregon’s May 17 primary and New Mexico’s June 7 vote.
The Kasich campaign confirmed that it had canceled two IN campaign events scheduled for Tuesday.
“They ought to vote for me”, he said during the gaggle. Contrary to Mr Cruz’s self projection of being an uncompromising conservative, Mr Kasich has consistently projected an image of being a compassionate conservative, who is willing to, and has, brokered bipartisan deals to get the government moving.
Mr Trump’s challengers mathematically can not win the Republican race from the pledged delegates at stake in the remaining 15 states and on Sunday night their campaigns agreed to join forces and focus on campaigning in different states in an effort to stop the billionaire.
A very strong showing in primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island would put former secretary of state Clinton on the cusp of Democratic victory, a monumental step in her quest to become the nation’s first female commander in chief.
Trump’s path to the nomination is narrow.
Kasich’s camp offered an inverse statement within minutes, saying it will “give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana” while focusing on New Mexico and Oregon.
Cruz, campaigning in IN, told reporters that Trump would lead Republicans to a “landslide” loss in November, and said his agreement with Kasich makes the Hoosier State “a crossroads” in the election overall.
The Cruz campaign will focus on the May 3 primary in IN without opposition from Kasich, while Kasich will take on Trump in future primaries in Oregon (May 17) and New Mexico (June 7), aides said. “That hasn’t happened”, Cruz said Sunday night on a Fox News town hall, speaking from Evansville, Ind.
“Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination”.
Trump also reserved some choice insults for Cruz. “Two losing politicians-mathematically eliminated from receiving the nomination-trying something NEW! They get it”, John Weaver tweeted. Ted Cruz talks at the Old National Events Plaza in Evansville, Ind., Sunday, April 24, 2016.
Earlier, Kasich defended the pact not so much by attacking Trump but by minimizing its significance. Rubio has not endorsed any of the candidates since dropping out of the race last month. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, can not win enough delegates in the campaign’s home stretch to clinch the nomination. Polls show a relatively close race in the 57-delegate state, with Trump holding single-digit leads over Cruz and Kasich.
While Cruz has succeeded by courting an array of delegates who back his candidacy, many are simply undecided about how they’d vote in a contested convention – including influential members of Congress. The sudden alliance, revealed in short statements, arose due to the pressing timing of the Republican party’s presidential primary season.
Advertisement
In an election year that has highlighted voter disaffection with politics as usual, a chaotic convention fight would nearly surely damage Republican prospects in November.
