Minutes later the AP declared that Trump had secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination.
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John Yang begins our coverage.
“I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is”, said Pam Pollard, the Republic chairwoman in the state of Oklahoma who is among these unbound delegates.
On Thursday, Donald Trump reached the magic number – 1,237.
But when he was contacted by an Associated Press reporter, the AP delegate count stood at 1,235 – two delegates short.
Trandem was for Trump, but he didn’t want to say so unless he was Mister 1,237.
Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that a lot of the GOP establishment and voters are beginning to unify behind Trump despite concerns about specific policies.
“He lashes out at the least bit of disrespect”, Lonna Atkeson, a University of New Mexico political science professor, said of Trump. If the answer is no, then why not give someone who is a pure businessperson an opportunity to change the way we go forward with the country? They are backing Trump even in the face of resentment and suspicion from friends and family, who are among the overwhelming majority of non-white voters opposed to the NY businessman’s candidacy.
Suddenly, with the nomination in the bag, Trump finds himself in the real world.
Rick Wiley, who ran Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s ill-fated presidential campaign, “was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam”, Trump’s campaign said Wednesday.
Speaking in North Dakota, Mr Trump derided Ms Clinton, his most likely general election rival, for her failure to conclusively sew up the Democratic nomination. “You’re going to have a worker’s party”, Trump told Bloomberg News.
“Electing a president is never easy, but our party is strong, focused, and ready”, said RPOF chair Blaise Ingoglia in a statement.
And while Trump has pivoted toward his likely matchup against Clinton, knocking her “bad judgment” in violating rules against using a private email account while secretary of state, he clearly revelled in seeing her struggle to put Sanders away.
JIMMY KIMMEL, Host, “Jimmy Kimmel Live”: Here’s the question from Bernie. He also joked about debating Bernie Sanders to which the latter replied he would gladly participate.
Carter Bundy, political director for public employee union AFSCME, said Trump’s criticism carried a grain of truth.
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The storming of the Republican bastion by Mr Trump was predicted by few. “I’d just rather not have the conversation with my family”, said Natalie Lally, a 22-year-old college student from New York City whose large extended family has Colombian roots.
