Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and John Kasich have suggested they may not support Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee, as violence at the front-runner’s rallies deepened the party’s chaotic chasm.
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At another rally in Kansas later the same day Mr Trump said staff found evidence the protester had possible links to the Islamic State.
Rubio said Florida voters should act likewise and support him and only him in Florida.
Rubio had a sharp comeback: “I’m not interested in being politically correct”.
Cruz made no mention of Friday’s melee in Chicago, when a Trump speech was canceled following several threatening exchanges between his supporters and protesters. Dozens of protesters would soon be ejected from the event.
But Chicago police said they had sufficient manpower on scene to handle the situation and did not recommended Trump cancel the rally. Florida elections officials said they had not heard of any such problems and had received no formal complaints. “I imagine they’re going to jail”.
Trump, who has voiced skepticism about U.S. military involvement overseas in the past, for the first time said America’s effort against ISIS terrorists might require between 20,000 and 30,000 United States troops, a number similar to what some Republican hawks have proposed.
Cruz and Trump haven’t found much to agree on recent weeks, but they did find common cause on one issue at Thursday night’s Miami debate: delegate math.
“I think it is also true that any campaign, responsibility begins and ends at the top”.
As Rubio was wrapping up, Cruz was standing outside a dinner event in Rolling Meadows, Ill., for an impromptu press conference. Local authorities said the man was taken into custody.
Now, the Republicans who fed this narrative are watching in apparent horror as they see voters have taken them all too seriously. Yet none of the candidates attempted to build on the advertising campaign during the debate.
According to the latest CNN poll of polls, Trump holds a substantial lead over Rubio in Florida, 40% to 26%, respectively.
The two sides shouted at each other until a Trump campaign staffer appeared and announced the event would be put off until an unspecified date for security reasons. “That seeks to pull us together, and unite us, instead of tear us apart”. “Just to see Americans slugging themselves at a political rally deeply disturbed me”. America’s better than this.
Asked if Trump should have gone ahead with the rally, Cruz paused for a moment, then said the decision should have been based on public safety.
“If we nominate Donald Trump, Hillary wins”, said Cruz, a staunch conservative loathed by many of his Senate colleagues. The cancellation followed a an appearance by Trump in St. Louis, Missouri earlier on Friday during which protests forced the front-runner to halt his speech repeatedly.
“I am encouraging every candidate and every campaign to appeal to our better angels. We want Trump!” in response to the celebrations.
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“When the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence, to punch people in the face, the predictable effect of that is that is escalates”, he said. “We should seize that opportunity”, he said. “I was in the National Guard in a lot of riots so I know how to do it”, Trump supporter Rich Brown, who lives in suburban Cleveland, told Mashable.
