WASHINGTON: Ted Cruz suspended his White House
campaign on Tuesday (May 4) after suffering a crushing defeat in
Indiana's primary, leaving the road wide open for Donald Trump to seize
the Republican nomination.
"From the beginning, I've said that I would
continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight, I'm
sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed," the Texas
senator told supporters in Indianapolis.
"Together, we left it all on the field in
Indiana," said Cruz, whose withdrawal leaves the low-polling John Kasich
as Trump's sole challenger.
"We gave it everything we've got, but the
voters chose another path. And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless
optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our
campaign."
The latest contest in the 2016 White House race was seen as a day of reckoning for the "stop Trump" movement.
Cruz had been hoping to use Indiana as a
firewall, blocking Trump from receiving the 1,237 delegates needed to
secure the nomination ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in
July.
Until recently, the midwestern state was
widely seen as favoring the Texas senator, who has performed well in
primaries dominated by conservative and evangelical voters. But Trump -
who has thus far defied political logic to lead the Republican race -
swept the arch-conservative senator aside.
Partial results showed the billionaire
securing more than 52 per cent of the vote, more than 15 points ahead of
Cruz. Kasich languished at barely 8 per cent.
Post a Comment