More lawmakers in GOP see Trump as only hope
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are beginning to accept and even embrace an outcome that was once unthinkable: Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee.
After the businessman’s commanding wins in five Eastern states this week, a growing number of lawmakers say that Trump is taking on an air of inevitability. Some say they should get behind him now instead of trying to stand in his way, as some Republicans who align themselves with the party’s traditional power structure are still attempting to do by backing various “Never Trump” efforts.
For some lawmakers, supporting Trump is seen as their only hope of stopping the Democratic candidate in November and ensuring a Democratic president doesn’t fill Supreme Court vacancies.
“I don’t understand. I mean, it’s not ‘Never Trump.’ It’s ‘Never Hillary.’ Never, never, never Hillary. Come on. Wake up and smell the coffee,” said Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, who earlier this week cast his ballot for Trump.
“I’ve never seen a party attack one of its own candidates with this aggressiveness,” Kelly said of GOP figures who oppose Trump.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah previously endorsed Jeb Bush and then Sen. Marco Rubio and said he doesn’t intend to endorse Trump. But Hatch said Thursday of Trump, “It looks to me like he’s going to win and if he does I’m going to do everything in my power to help him.”
Hatch added: “I think he could be great if he’ll get serious about being president, and I think he will.”
Trump on Friday said the party’s nomination was a foregone conclusion, calling on Republican leaders in California to unify behind him.
Demonstrators swarmed outside the hotel near San Francisco airport, forcing Trump to crawl under a fence to enter the hotel where he
met with local GOP power brokers and gave a lunchtime speech at the state party’s convention.
On Thursday night, protesters tangled with authorities and damaged police cars after a Trump rally in Orange County. About 20 people were arrested, the sheriff’s office said.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators pushed to the front doors of the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame before being moved back by police in riot gear. Some protesters entered the hotel and hung a giant banner reading, “Stop Hate.”
Hours later, Ohio Gov. John Kasich framed the chaos as a warning sign to his party. “Did you see what happened today?” he said during a news conference. “People chaining themselves to a fence. Do you see what’s happening?”
During his speech at the convention, Trump called for the party to unify around his candidacy but also issued a veiled threat to its leaders.
“There has to be unity in our party,” he said. “Would I win — could I win — without it? I think so because they’re going to be voting for me” and not the party, he added.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was to speak today.
It remains uncertain whether Trump will amass the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. If he does not, Cruz hopes to make a play to win the nomination as balloting progresses.
The California primary will award 172 delegates. Trump now has 996 total delegates, while Cruz has 565 and Kasich has 153.
ENDORSEMENTS
On Capitol Hill, Cruz remains an unpopular alternative to Trump, having disparaged party leaders and led the charge to force a 16-day partial government shutdown in 2013 in a futile attempt to cut off money for President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, who resigned last fall, lashed out at Cruz in comments published Thursday in Stanford University’s student newspaper, calling him “Lucifer in the flesh” and a “miserable son of a bitch.”
Cruz repeated Boehner’s comments in a fundraising email and wrote, “Coming from the godfather of the Washington Cartel, that is a ringing endorsement!”
Boehner and his allies have not forgiven Cruz for helping spark the 2013 shutdown.
“A lot of us thought he behaved in an atrocious manner,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a longtime Boehner ally, said of Cruz. Referring to Boehner’s characterization of Cruz, Dent said, “That’s pretty harsh. I wouldn’t have called him miserable.”
Dent added: “Somebody better contact Lucifer for comment because he’s probably very upset about” being compared to Cruz.
Despite the vitriol from congressional Republicans, Cruz racked up an endorsement from Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, where voters head to primary polls Tuesday.
“The man has shown the courage of his convictions,” Pence said, citing Cruz’s fight against government spending, the federal health care law and his “strong and unwavering stand for the sanctity of life.”
Trump, however, picked up congressional endorsements from House committee chairmen: Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Transportation Committee, and Jeff Miller of Florida, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.