New York Rep. Chris Collins said Republican lawmakers are “absolutely uniting” around Donald Trump in recent weeks as the GOP front-runner inches closer to securing 1,237 delegates.
Collins, the first congressman to endorse Trump in February, said Wednesday afternoon he has noticed a shift among his colleagues toward supporting the New York businessman’s campaign for president.
“I’m feeling it in Washington. I’ve had members say they’re already shifting [behind Trump],” Collins told CNN host Wolf Blitzer. “My fellow members are already shifting that way in their own town hall meetings.”
Following his win in New York’s Republican primary on Tuesday, Trump sets his sights on the April 26 primaries in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.
Collins is “highly confident” Trump will carry Maryland and Pennsylvania much like he did in his home state Tuesday, but said not every state in next week’s primaries will be a “cake walk from here on in.”
The Trump machine already has begun focusing significantly more attention — and money — on California’s June 7 Republican primary, where 172 delegates will be awarded, according to Collins.
Trump has a nine-point lead over Sen. Ted Cruz in the Golden State and tops Gov. John Kasich by more than 20 points, recent polls indicate.
Trump’s team has set a goal of hitting 1,400 delegates by early June, a move Collins said would set the campaign up for victory six weeks before the GOP convention.
