Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz picked up a win in Utah, where he had been polling ahead
of Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Yet the key point of intrigue in
that race – what his margin of victory will be – remained early
Wednesday morning as votes were still being counted.
If
he can capture 50 percent of the vote in Utah, Cruz would win all 40
delegates at stake, slightly offsetting Trump’s 58 delegates in Arizona.
If no candidate exceeds 50 percent, the delegates would be awarded
proportionally, a significant loss for Republicans scrambling to stop
Trump from securing the party nomination ahead of what increasingly
looks like a contested GOP convention this summer.
With
his victory in Arizona and before losing in Utah, Trump had 739
delegates, compared to Cruz’s 425. Kasich trailed a distant third, with
just 143 delegates. A candidate needs 1,237 delegates to secure the
nomination.
As
Utah Republicans headed to caucus, Trump unleashed a familiar Election
Day play, slamming Cruz for dirty campaigning. On Twitter, Trump accused
the Texas senator of using a provocative photo of his wife, Melania, in
an ad attacking his campaign.
“Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad,” Trump wrote. “Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!”
The
ad the New York real estate mogul was referring to was actually paid
for by an anti-Trump super-PAC called “Make America Awesome.” The online spot,
aimed at Mormon voters in Utah, featured a January 2000 photo of the
then-model posing nude on a bearskin rug on her future husband’s plane
for British GQ. “Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady,” the
super-PAC ad read. “Or, you could just support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
Responding
to Trump’s tweet, Cruz denied involvement with the ad and slammed him
for threatening his wife. “Pic of your wife not from us,” he wrote. “Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought.”
The
social media bickering between Trump and Cruz marked the end of an
election day that was largely overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in
Brussels. At least 30 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a
series of explosions at the airport and at a subway station in the heart
of the Belgian capital. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks.
Trump
quickly seized on the event to reiterate his call to close the U.S.
borders to Syrian refugees, and he doubled down on his call for
terrorist suspects to be subject to waterboarding and other severe
interrogation measures. At the same time, Cruz called for stricter
surveillance of Muslim communities in the United States, urging law
enforcement to “patrol and secure” such areas “before they become
radicalized.” In response, Trump told CNN he agreed with Cruz’s
position, but touted himself as the candidate who would do the most to
protect the nation.
At
the same time, Trump, who made no public appearances on Tuesday, took
to Twitter, talking up his tough stance on terrorism. “I have proven to
be far more correct about terrorism than anybody — and it’s not even
close,” he wrote. “Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!Source Yahoo.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment