Mainstream Senator Susan Collins said she would support Trump, but he will “have to mend a lot of fences” and halt what she called gratuitous insults that have marked his campaign.
Advertisement
“The campaign I’m going to run is about what we will do in the future, and I invite Republicans and Independents on the campaign trail who have reached out to me”, she said, speaking of moderates and right-leaning voters who have felt left behind as Trump has become the Republican presidential nominee.
It’s harsh. Mitt Romney calls Trump a misogynist, Marco Rubio claims he’s the most “vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency”, and Jeb Bush says Trump needs therapy.
The next day, Kasich announced he also was dropping out of the race.
Without Cruz in the race, the path is clear for Trump to clinch the party’s nomination ahead of the Republican National Convention, set for July in Cleveland.
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump faces all the familiar problems that previous GOP standard bearers have confronted over the last six cycles: terrible numbers among young voters, women, Latinos and African-Americans.
Dan Pfeiffer, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, says Trump presents a potentially unconventional target as a candidate.
This leaves Donald Trump, the only candidate remaining, the Republican nominee by default.
Supporters of Trump, who has never held elective office, said he could ease concerns about his lack of experience by choosing a well-known running mate. But as primary rivals, the relationship between Trump and Kasich hasn’t always been so rosy.
“I’m with her”, Salter added, repeating a Clinton campaign slogan. “I got some bad news for her”, Sanders said Tuesday night, all but mocking Clinton’s assertion the race is over.
GOP committeeman Chris Howard said it had been one of the most divisive campaigns in recent memory.
The general election, Trump said, has “essentially” begun.
The Rolling Stones have asked presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to stop playing their songs at his campaign events.
Late Tuesday and early Wednesday made for a whirlwind 24-hours for the Republican party. For Trump’s moniker on Clinton, it’s been “Crooked Hillary”. All of us assumed that eventually Republicans would nominate a hardcore conservative, and we were all taken by surprise when Trump stepped in instead. “I don’t want anyone to have big influence over me”, he said.
Trump’s takeover of the GOP marks one of the most stunning political feats in modern political history.
The self-declared democratic socialist beat Clinton 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, providing a shot in the arm to his campaign and further justification for staying in a race that Team Clinton and many pundits have said is all but finished.
Advertisement
“If she is able to move to the center and think as creatively and thoughtfully as her husband (Bill Clinton) did… boy, I would have a very hard time, based on what I know today, not voting for Hillary versus what Trump is espousing”, said Achtmeyer, who has donated $200,000 to Republicans over the last decade.
