A top adviser for Republican front-runner Donald Trump said that it is “100 percent certain” the Republican front-runner reaches the 1,237 delegates needed to lock the party’s nomination on the first ballot in July.
In an interview Thursday on Bloomberg’s “With All Due Respect,” Barry Bennett, senior adviser to the Donald Trump campaign, said he expects his boss to pass the threshold in June.
Asked if he would concede the mere possibility that Trump not achieve 1,237 delegates before the Republican convention, Bennett simply replied, “No.” Pressed again, he answered that he is “100 percent certain” that Trump reaches 1,237.
Though former Republican National Committee chairman Hailey Barbour said this week that Trump has less than a 50 percent chance of reaching 1,237 delegates, Bennett suggested that Trump’s doubters are not looking at the latest polling, which he said shows Ted Cruz, Trump’s nearest rival in the delegate count, plummeting nationally and trailing last place candidate John Kasich in states with upcoming primary contests.
Bennett urged both Cruz and Kasich to drop out of the race, now that there is no way either candidate can earn enough delegates to win on the first ballot. He called Cruz the “Trojan horse for the establishment,” explaining that the Texas senator is one of the most unpopular politicians in Washington. “They didn’t fall in love with him. They’re using him,” he added.
Instead, Bennett predicted an establishment Republican would be chosen on a hypothetical second or third ballot, listing the likes of House Speaker Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
According to the latest count from the Associated Press, Trump has 845 delegates behind him. He is followed by Cruz with 559 and Kasich at 148 delegates.
