Trump hits delegate jackpot on 'Little Tuesday'
Chelsea Schilling
March 8k 2016
GOP front-runner Donald Trump (Photo: Twitter)
In another big night in the races for the Republican and Democratic Party nominations, the two states with the largest numbers of delegates Tuesday evening – Michigan and Mississippi – solidified the lead of GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Republican candidate Ted Cruz has won Idaho.
And in a major upset, Democrat Bernie Sanders has taken Michigan, the big prize of the night, from the clutches of Hillary Clinton.
Clinton lost badly in Michigan among independents, showed continued weakness with working-class white Democrats, and was unable to count on as much of an advantage with black voters as she had in the South.
Addressing reporters in Miami while the votes in Michigan were still being counted, Sanders said that his powerful showing indicated that “the political revolution that we’re talking about is strong in every part of the country.”
“And frankly,” he added, “we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen.”
Meanwhile, Clinton has been declared the Democrat winner in Mississippi.
In a speech after his wins in Michigan and Mississippi Tuesday, Trump told supporters, “I don’t think I’ve ever had so many horrible things said about me in one week. … It shows how brilliant the public is, because they know they were lies.”
Trump noted that he has Democrats and independents supporting his campaign. And he said polls have him beating Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton in the general election.
“I want to thank the special interests and the lobbyists, because they obviously did something to drive these numbers,” he joked.
Trump ripped “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz for saying he’s the only GOP candidate who can beat the billionaire, “but he never beats me.”
According to Michigan exit polls, Trump drew support from men while Cruz was a favorite among women. Trump also saw the most support among voters with high-school educations and “some college.” Among college graduates, Cruz and Trump each drew 29 percent of the vote. Those with a postgraduate education favored John Kasich.
Trump also enjoyed 35 percent support among born-again or evangelical Christians, just one point higher than Cruz’s 34 percent.
Calling himself “a very good Christian,” Trump said, “Evangelicals get me. They understand me. They don’t like the way Ted Cruz talks. And they know that he lies.”
Trump continued, “I think we’re going to clean the slate. I think we’re going to do really well in Florida. … I think we’re going to do really well in Ohio. We’re going to go have a lot of fun. Then, what we’re going to do is, we’re going to beat Hillary Clinton. And we’re going to beat her very badly.”
Referencing the FBI investigation of Clinton, he said, “If the government does its job properly, she will not be allowed to run.”
Trump urged the GOP to “embrace” him because, he said, he is a “unifier” who can win in November: “The bottom line is, we have something going that’s so good. We should grab each other, and we should unify the party.”
He also promised, “I will be more presidential than anyone but Abe Lincoln.”
Democrat candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton
As WND reported Tuesday, Rubio’s campaign has doubled down on its defenses against a CNN report that said the presidential candidate was considering a drop-out before his home-town Floridians vote in the primary. But the cable network has not backed off the claim. Also on Tuesday, Rubio accused Cruz’s campaign of “using a bogus story from CNN to spread false rumors.”
“Senator Cruz is up to his dirty tricks again spreading false rumors and lies. We won’t allow him to do to Marco Rubio in Florida what he did to Ben Carson in Iowa,” Rubio spokesman Joe Pounder said in a statement, according to Politico. “Floridians and voters across the country will reject Senator Cruz’s campaign of disgusting tactics because they know a vote for Cruz is a vote for Donald Trump.”
Rubio appeared to be performing poorly Tuesday, failing to capture even 10 percent of the vote in Mississippi and Michigan.
On the Democrat side, Bernie Sanders blasted Trump and called on U.S. voters to reject his “selfishness” and “hatred.”
Sanders also charged, “This was a guy who was one of the leaders in the so-called birther movement.”
The Vermont senator noted that his father isn’t from the U.S. either, but no one has accused him of being ineligible for the presidency, likely due to his skin color.
Sanders got a shout-out Tuesday from leftist filmmaker Michael Moore, who voted in Michigan Tuesday. Moore declared on Twitter: “In today’s election I got to vote for democratic socialist on the Democratic ballot. This happened in my lifetime.”
Trump also won the Hawaii Republican presidential caucuses, according to the Associated Press.
Trump never visited the state, but instead took his campaign to Twitter on the eve of the election.
“I employ many people in Hawaii at my great hotel in Honolulu. I’ll be there very soon. Vote for me, Hawaii!” he wrote.
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Results will be posted below as they come in.
Michigan primary (Republican)
59 delegates
With 99 percent reporting:
Trump: 36.5 percent
Cruz: 24.9 percent
Kasich: 24.3 percent
Rubio: 9.3 percent
Michigan primary (Democrat)
148 delegates
With 99 percent reporting:
Sanders: 49.9 percent
Clinton: 48.2 percent
Mississippi primary (Republican)
40 delegates
With 99 percent reporting:
Trump: 47.3 percent
Cruz: 36.3 percent
Kasich: 8.8 percent
Rubio: 5.1 percent
Mississippi primary (Democrat)
41 delegates
With 99 percent reporting:
Clinton: 82.6 percent
Sanders: 16.5 percent
Idaho primary (Republican)
32 delegates
With 94 percent reporting:
Cruz: 45.4 percent
Trump: 28.1 percent
Rubio: 16 percent
Kasich: 7.5 percent
Hawaii precinct caucuses (Republican)
19 delegates
With 100 percent reporting:
Trump: 42.4 percent
Cruz: 32.7 percent
Rubio: 13.1 percent
Kasich: 10.6 percent
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