Donald Trump blasts John Kasich and Ted Cruz's alliance: 'A horrible act of desperation'
Maxwell Tani
donald trump
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is not pleased with the new alliance between Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio to deny Trump the Republican nomination.
In a lengthy statement sent out early Monday morning, the Republican presidential frontrunner slammed his fellow candidates over their plan to divvy up the remaining nominating states to try to keep Trump from picking up the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican presidential nomination.
"It is sad that two grown politicians have to collude against one person who has only been a politician for 10 months in order to try and stop that person from getting the Republican nomination," Trump said in his statement.
Labeling the pact a "horrible act of desperation," Trump attempted to undermine the two candidates' electoral legitimacy, painting both as political insiders attempting to subvert the popular vote.
Trump noted that he had won millions more votes than both Cruz and Kasich. The Ohio governor has won only his home state and has secured fewer delegates than Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who dropped out of the presidential race in March.
"Collusion is often illegal in many other industries and yet these two Washington insiders have had to revert to collusion in order to stay alive," Trump said. "They are mathematically dead and this act only shows, as puppets of donors and special interests, how truly weak they and their campaigns are."
He continued: "When two candidates who have no path to victory get together to stop a candidate who is expanding the party by millions of voters (all of whom will drop out if I am not in the race), it is yet another example of everything that is wrong in Washington and our political system."
On Sunday, Kasich and Cruz announced the agreement to cede ground to each other in certain states to consolidate anti-Trump support.
Ted Cruz John Kasich
(REUTERS/Jim Young) Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz, left, and John Kasich at the debate in Detroit on March 3.
In a release Sunday, Kasich's campaign said it would effectively stop campaigning in Indiana and focus on winning New Mexico and Oregon. The Cruz campaign scheduled numerous events in Indiana this week and said it would attempt to "clear the path" for Kasich to perform well in New Mexico and Oregon.
“Having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be a sure disaster for Republicans," Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe said in a statement Sunday evening. "To ensure that we nominate a Republican who can unify the Republican Party and win in November, our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico, and we would hope that allies of both campaigns would follow our lead."
An overwhelming victory in the New York primary last week helped Trump move closer to winning the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination on the first ballot during the Republican national convention in July. While Kasich has been openly positioning himself for a contested convention, Cruz has only recently begun publicly acknowledging that he will not be able to secure the delegates needed to clinch the nomination outright.
The New York Times reports that talks have been in the works for some time, though the Cruz campaign was initially hesitant to agree to a pact.
Trump's full statement is below:
It is sad that two grown politicians have to collude against one person who has only been a politician for ten months in order to try and stop that person from getting the Republican nomination.
Senator Cruz has done very poorly and after his New York performance, which was a total disaster, he is in free fall and as everyone has seen, he does not react well under pressure. Also, approximately 80% of the Republican Party is against him. Governor Kasich, who has only won 1 state out of 41, in other words, he is 1 for 41 and he is not even doing as well as other candidates who could have stubbornly stayed in the race like him but chose not to do so. Marco Rubio, as an example, has more delegates than Kasich and yet suspended his campaign one month ago. Others, likewise, have done much better than Kasich, who would get slaughtered by Hillary Clinton once the negative ads against him begin. 85% of Republican voters are against Kasich.
Collusion is often illegal in many other industries and yet these two Washington insiders have had to revert to collusion in order to stay alive. They are mathematically dead and this act only shows, as puppets of donors and special interests, how truly weak they and their campaigns are. I have brought millions of voters into the Republican primary system and have received many millions of votes more than Cruz or Kasich. Additionally, I am far ahead of both candidates with delegates and would be receiving in excess of 60% of the vote except for the fact that there were so many candidates running against me.
Because of me, everyone now sees that the Republican primary system is totally rigged. When two candidates who have no path to victory get together to stop a candidate who is expanding the party by millions of voters, (all of whom will drop out if I am not in the race) it is yet another example of everything that is wrong in Washington and our political system. This horrible act of desperation, from two campaigns who have totally failed, makes me even more determined, for the good of the Republican Party and our country, to prevail!
