Donald Trump became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party after winning the primary in Indiana, which prompted Sen. Ted Cruz to drop out of the primary race on Tuesday night.
His remaining contender, Gov. John Kasich suspended his campaign and is expected to announce his exit from the primary race today, according to reports.
In his victory speech, Trump promised economic improvements and the United States will be united as a “one beautiful, loving country.” He said, “We’re going to love each other, cherish each other and we’re going to have great economic development.”
Political observers suggest that right now, the biggest challenge confronting the presumptive nominee Trump is to unite the severely divided Republican Party. Many of the conservative loyalists are disgusted with his bullying style, demeaning comments about women, Hispanics, disabled and prisoners of war as well as his proposals to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
Trump is optimistic that he can unite most of Republicans
Bob Vander Plaats, a national co-chairman for Sen. Cruz’s campaign, told Bloomberg, “There’s definitely going to be an issue in uniting around a guy who quite frankly doesn’t share our values.
During an interview with NBC’s Today show, Trump expressed optimism that he can unite a majority of the Republicans. According to him, “I am confident that I can unite much of it, some of it I don’t want.”
Trump added, “Honestly, there are some people I really don’t want. People will be voting for me, they’re not voting for the party.
Some Republicans would vote for Hillary Clinton
Bloomberg noted that 71% of the supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz said they will not support Trump in November. A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey showed that one-third of Republicans will not vote to the billionaire in the general elections.
William Oberndorf, a Republican donor and investor in San Francisco said, “I will be voting for Hillary Clinton.” He believed that Republicans seemed to be “more determined to make a statement than to win the election.”
Mark Salter, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain tweeted that he will support Clinton in November. He said, “The GOP is going to nominate for President a guy who reads the National Enquirer and thinks it’s on the level. I’m with her.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Salter said is “temperamentally unfit for the office.” He confirmed that he would vote for Clinton because “she is the more conservative choice.” He added that Trump is a “crazy narcissist” based on his proposal to reduce the role of the United States in NATO, to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and to kill the wives and children of Islamic terrorists.
“He’s some kind of nut to want to do those things. We’re all guilty of not taking him more seriously when we should have. But it’s shocking that a guy who can say these sorts of things is going to be the nominee,” said Salter.
During an interview with ABC News last month, billionaire industrialist Charles Koch said Clinton could be a better president than the candidates of the Republican Party. He criticized Trump for his proposal to create a Muslim registry. Koch said, “That’s reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I mean — that’s monstrous.”
