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Ted Cruz And John Kasich Team Up To Take Down Donald Trump

By Val Powell
Published on: 20:40 PST, Apr 24, 2016

Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich announced that they are joining forces by dividing the states to try and stop GOP front-runner, Donald Trump.

According to reports, the two have joined forces in a last-ditch effort to deny the real estate mogul the Republican presidential nomination. As the primaries in the remaining six states move closer, Donald Trump now has a total of 845 delegates. He needs only 392 more delegates to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.

A nominee needs to win at least 1,237 delegates, and if not a single one of the candidates reaches that number, they’ll have to proceed to a contested Republican convention, in which delegates decide the winner. This is what Donald Trump and his supporters fear since he’s not well-liked by the GOP. However, many people are projecting the front-runner’s win, saying that he could get up to 1,400 or more delegates once the primaries are over.

The Texas senator and Ohio governor revealed their strategy within minutes from each other. They said that they were going to divide their efforts for the upcoming primaries into the remaining six states. Ted Cruz stated that he will be focusing on Indiana while John Kasich will devote his campaign efforts to Oregon and New Mexico.

Jeff Roe, who is the campaign manager of the Ted Cruz, said in a statement that his candidate will be focusing on the May 3 Indiana primaries, noting that Donald Trump’s stay at the top will project “a sure disaster” in the future if he wins. The campaign manager added, “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 Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.”

The chief strategist of the Ohio governor, John Weaver, also released a statement saying that the two candidates’ plan will keep Donald Trump from reaching the needed 1,237 delegates before Cleveland. It is unclear, however, how the two candidates will divide California, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

The latest move highlights Donald Trump’s strength throughout the campaign and that Republicans opposing him cannot come together to stop him. The John Kasich and Ted Cruz team-up is the first official cooperative move made by the two candidates whom previously mocked and criticized each other in their campaigns when Kasich refused to drop out of the GOP race. Ted Cruz and his team went as far as to suggest that the Ohio governor is eyeing the position of vice president to Donald Trump, thus his unwillingness to drop out of the race.

Last Sunday, the New York businessman blasted the partnership on Twitter by posting: “Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!”

The social media director of the former host of Miss Universe, Dan Scavino echoed the thoughts of his candidate, saying that the two losing politicians’ plan will fail.

Scavino’s statements are rooted in the fact that Ted Cruz has been a steady second and John Kasich has been a constant third in the past primaries. The initial strategy of the Cruz camp to win the South through the massive support of evangelical voters didn’t go as planned.

As of now, Ted Cruz has 559 delegates while John Kasich has 148. The biggest win will be provided by Indiana with 57 delegates. Oregon will be awarding 28 while New Mexico has 24.

[Photo by Dennis Van Tine and Hans Pennink/AP Images]

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