The Texas senator got a big boost from anti-Trump forces Friday when 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney announced on Facebook that he would vote for Cruz in Utah, which has caucuses Tuesday.
Advertisement
Asserting that Romney’s support for Cruz was good for his campaign Trump tweeted: “Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the man who “choked” and let us all down, is now endorsing Lyin’ Ted Cruz”.
Sanders will square off with Clinton in Utah’s caucuses on Tuesday.
Still, the Romney announcement raises potential problems for Kasich by putting a bold-faced name – not to mention its most recent nominee – behind a strategy that essentially advocates for Kasich’s exit from the race. Limited polling shows Trump running second to Cruz, but ahead of Kasich, said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. “With one vacancy and possibly more on the U.S. Supreme Court, it is essential we have a president who will nominate a strong conservative to the court who will use the Constitution as his or her guide”.
“Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism”, said Romney, linking statements by NY billionaire Donald Trump to “racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence”.
Trump himself was defensive last month when Pope Francis questioned his Christian faith over the candidate’s calls for a wall to be built at the southern USA border to keep immigrants out.
“Some in the anti-Trump movement now concede that the push to defeat him hasn’t worked – and may be backfiring”, Isenstadt wrote.
“A vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump”, Cruz told reporters Saturday in Utah.
Could John Kasich be single-handedly destroying a political party? “Please, on Tuesday, make sure that you, your friends, your family come out to vote”, he told the crowd.
When it comes to the Democratic Party, while the Y2 poll did not study those numbers, Utah Democratic Party Chair Peter Corroon said the race is bound to end up close between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. “This is really about who we want to run the country”. Lyin’ Ted Cruz should not be allowed to win there – Mormons don’t like LIARS! Many Republicans, including Cruz, have expressed adamant opposition to any nomination by Obama, arguing the choice should be up to the next president.
But even Ohio Senator Rob Portman and former Mississippi Senator Trent Lott, both Kasich supporters, struggled in interviews with Bloomberg this week to say where the Ohio governor could win next. Mr. Cruz has been trying to forge a path for people to feel comfortable supporting him, and Mr. Romney’s comments could give other prominent Republicans the cover to back the Texas senator. If he falls below 50 percent in Utah, warned the Texan, state rules would allocate an additional 20 delegates to Trump.
Advertisement
The endorsement by Romney of Cruz was shrugged off by Kasich on Friday when he said Romney was entitled to his own opinion.
