And Then There Was One: Following Trump Indiana Win, Cruz, Kasich Bow Out

Gary Lane : May 4, 2016
CBN News

Although their party conventions and official nominations are still more than two months away, Trump and Clinton will now focus their campaign efforts against one another.

UPDATE: Following Donald Trump's win in Indiana, and Ted Cruz suspending his campaign on Tuesday night, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced on Wednesday that he also is leaving the presidential contest. This latest development gives Donald Trump a "clear path" to the republican nomination.

[CBN News] Donald Trump delivered a knock-out punch to Sen. Ted Cruz, winning an astounding victory in Indiana Tuesday night. (Screengrab via CBN News)

The state was Cruz's last stand, but he was unable to deliver. That means Trump is now the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

"It really looks like a massive victory and looks like we win all 57 delegates," a subdued Trump told supporters Tuesday night.

With Trump now only about 200 delegates away from what he needs to secure the nomination, even RNC Chairman Reince Priebus acknowledged that Trump is the party's presumptive nominee.

"We need to unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Cruz announced he's suspending his campaign, saying, "We gave it everything we got, but the voters chose another path." (Screengrab via CBN News)

And now it is clear the path is a Washington outsider, with Republicans preferring a non-politician, a brash and outspoken billionaire businessman over the Tea Party candidate.

In New York, Trump told his supporters America needs to win again because it's been losing all the time.

"We lose with our military--we can't beat ISIS. We lose with trade. We lose with borders. We lose with everything," he said. "We're not going to lose, we're going to start winning again and we're going to win bigly, believe me."

But the question now is, can Trump win his race for the White House against Hillary Clinton?

The former secretary of state has 92 percent of the delegates she needs to secure her party's nomination.

But Democrat socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders--who upset Clinton to win the Indiana primary--has yet to concede defeat, insisting said he has momentum. (Screengrab via CBN News)

"I understand that Secretary Clinton thinks that this campaign is over. I've got some bad news for her," Sanders told supporters.

But with many super delegates already pledged to Clinton, it seems mathematically impossible for Sanders to win his party's nomination. Nevertheless, he promises to stay in the race.

Although their party conventions and official nominations are still more than two months away, Trump and Clinton will now focus their campaign efforts against one another.

CBN News