Donald Trump had a ‘yuge’ night last night — winning three out of four states. Ted Cruz cemented his position as number two — the only Trump alternative in the race. And the Marco Rubio dream died a little more.
Trump used his Mississippi and Michigan victories to brilliantly command a solid hour of free television time. All three cable news networks could not look away as the winning candidate sold steaks, talked about unifying the party, thanked “little Marco” for helping him beat back “lying Ted,” shamed a male reporter who rebuked his language, and announced he, Donald J. Trump, could be more presidential than anybody — except Abraham Lincoln.
Three Florida polls have Trump trouncing Rubio in Florida, and that was before humiliating losses last night. Rubio earned only single digits in Mississippi and Michigan and picked up zero delegates.
It is a shame to watch such a talented communicator be lead down this walk of shame by his donors’ unwillingness to acknowledge that Cruz is the only guy who could unite the non-Trump majority in the GOP.
Politico reported on the megadonors, including Paul Singer, who are funding an anti-Trump ad campaign centered mostly in Florida (as I pointed out yesterday):
What’s more, Ted Cruz’s emergence as the best-placed alternative has complicated the anti-Trump movement’s push to find financiers. Many top Republicans, especially those in Washington, see Cruz as just as objectionable as Trump.
‘It is why it has been so difficult to get an anti-Trump campaign together,’ confided one top Republican strategist, who opposes both men. ‘If the ultimate beneficiary of anti-Trump efforts is Ted Cruz, the effort itself is probably not worthwhile.’
Memo to Paul Singer, Meg Whitman, and the rest of the megadonors: Stop torturing your horse into staying and saying things that make him look increasingly ridiculous. Let Rubio get out of the way.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at the American Principles Project.
