The latest chapter in the ongoing splintering of the Republican Party saw presidential hopeful Marco Rubio’s campaign Friday urging GOP voters in OH to support his opponent, Gov. John Kasich in an attempt to keep Donald Trump from winning the state’s primary on Tuesday.
Advertisement
The comments, made three days before critical primaries in several states, including Florida and OH, represent an escalation in Rubio’s rhetoric, and follow a Republican debate earlier this month in which Rubio vowed to back Trump were he to become the GOP’s standard-bearer.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Rubio says Trump is engaged in an “ongoing pattern” of encouraging supporters to respond to protesters aggressively.
“The rules of the Republican Party are very clear and contemplate this”, Rubio said when asked whether Trump should be denied the nomination even if he wins the most delegates but doesn’t reach the threshold.
“Conant said, “‘My answer is John Kasich is the one candidate in OH that can beat Donald Trump. Neither Mr. Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, nor Mr. Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, have campaigned for Ohio’s 66 winner-take-all delegates, leaving the state to Mr. Kasich and Mr. Trump. Trump has until now all but ignored Kasich, but now criticizes him as an absentee governor who does not deserve credit for Ohio’s economic turnaround.
“What is he? He’s a choke artist who never goes to vote”, Trump said at a rally in Cleveland, referencing Rubio’s attendance rate in the Senate. “I’m sure they weren’t expecting the Trump movement to be so strong”.
“It’s getting harder every day to justify that statement to myself, to my children, to my family, and to the people that support me”, Rubio said. Rubio among likely voters in Florida is down to 7 points, according to a Washington Post-Univision News poll: 38%-31%.
“We’re all in this together”, Trump said. Ted Cruz. Outside a dinner for Illinois Republicans, Cruz said Trump “bears a responsibility for creating” the kind of environment seen at the rally, and that its escalating is “the predictable outcome”.
“They want me to tell my people, ‘Please be nice.’ My people are nice”, Trump said.
But in order for Conant’s proposal to have the most impact, it more or less requires the Kasich campaign to be on board, so they can similarly advocate for their supporters to stop Trump in Florida.
Cruz is forcefully trying to close the narrowing gap between him and Trump, while Kasich still hasn’t won first place in any states. But tension was brewing at the University of IL at Chicago Pavilion, where he had a rally scheduled Friday night.
Advertisement
Many Rubio supporters were pinning their hopes on a brokered convention to deny Trump the nomination. “We can’t let it happen”, he said. “I can’t vote for somebody that I think is going to radically change the country”.
