Ted Cruz downplayed Donald Trump’s huge victory in New York, arguing that the results in the GOP front-runner’s favor don’t change the tenor of the fight for the nomination.
“Donald won his home state, everyone knew that Donald was going to win his home state. But at the end of the day, to win the Republican nomination, you have to win the majority of the delegates elected by the people,” he told reporters Wednesday, during a news conference at the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting in Florida.
“We are on a path to doing that and Donald is on the path to losing the nomination. All of his bluster, all his bravado is designed to hide that simple fact.”
Cruz conceded he would not reach the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination on a first ballot at the convention. But he argued that Trump would not either.
The Texas senator is effectively mathematically eliminated from reaching that mark ahead of the convention, while Trump would need to win more than 60 percent of the outstanding delegates, a much higher clip than he’s been averaging.
“We are going to arrive in Cleveland with me having a ton of delegates and Donald having a ton of delegates,” the Cruz said, adding that the real battle is who can win delegates in a contested convention once they are unbound by state results.
“I believe we will have a tremendous advantage in that battle.”