In a plot twist laden with the kind of intrigue folks might expect from an episode of Game of Thrones , Donald Trump’s two biggest foes appear to have finally joined forces in an attempt to block the billionaire candidate from winning the Republican nomination. In separate announcements on Sunday night, the Cruz and Kasich campaigns announced a collaborative effort to defeat Trump in the remaining state primary elections, effectively preventing him from reaching 1,237 delegates before the Republican National Convention in July.
As noted by Politico , Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe laid out part of the strategy in a statement. Roe also appeared to signal like-minded individuals – ostensibly those who supported other candidates who have since dropped out of contention – to join in the effort to stop Donald Trump .
“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.”
CNNreported that staff from John Kasich’s campaignissued a communiqué of their own on the matter. The two statements were released within minutes of each other.
“Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1,237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign’s resources west and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.”
Two losing politicians-mathematically eliminated from receiving the nomination-trying something NEW! They will FAIL! pic.twitter.com/U7qNFomNZC
— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) April 25, 2016
As for Donald Trump himself, he followed up with scathing tweets directed at both of his rivals, blasting them as “mathematically dead” and “totally desperate.”
Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
The new gesture of unity between Donald Trump’s remaining Republican rivals suggests that the “Anybody But Trump” movement – known on social media by the hashtag #NeverTrump – is finally coalescing. The effort to derail Trump’s momentum has attracted prominent Republican’s like former New Hampshire Governor and White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, and 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is also part of the aforementioned effort, although he has publicly stated that he would not accept a nomination to run as the GOP nominee in place of Trump.
As previously reported by Inquisitr , a formidable contingent of Republicans met in March and agreed to launch a 100-day campaign to knock Trump out of contention for the nomination. More recently, a Mississippi delegate suggested that the Republican Party’s spring retreat included strategy sessions on how to handle a contested convention in the event that Donald Trump cannot win the required number of delegates after the first vote.
[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
