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| Romney to vote for Cruz in 'contest of Trumpism and Republicanism' – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 8.25pm GMT | |
| 20:25 | |
| Donald Trump had a quick reaction to the news that Mitt Romney will be voting for Ted Cruz in the Utah caucus: | |
| Failed Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney was campaigning with John Kasich & Marco Rubio, and now he is endorsing Ted Cruz. 1/2 | |
| Mitt Romney is a mixed up man who doesn't have a clue. No wonder why he lost! 2/2 | |
| 7.59pm GMT | 7.59pm GMT |
| 19:59 | 19:59 |
| Romney to vote for Cruz in upcoming Utah caucus | |
| Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential nominee, plans to vote for Texas senator Ted Cruz in Utah’s upcoming caucus on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post by the onetime governor of Massachusetts. | |
| “This week, in the Utah nominating caucus, I will vote for Senator Ted Cruz,” Romney wrote, in a bid to take a side in the “contest between Trumpism and Republicanism.” | |
| “Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these,” Romney wrote. | |
| “The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention. At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible.” | |
| Romney, who has campaigned with Ohio governor John Kasich, wrote that the candidate “has a solid record as governor” and that :I would have voted for him in Ohio. But a vote for Governor Kasich in future contests makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail.” | |
| “I will vote for Senator Cruz and I encourage others to do so as well, so that we can have an open convention and nominate a Republican,” Romney concluded. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.21pm GMT | |
| 7.51pm GMT | 7.51pm GMT |
| 19:51 | 19:51 |
| Senate Republican blockade against Garland nomination continues to crack | Senate Republican blockade against Garland nomination continues to crack |
| Another Republican member of the US Senate has come out in support of an up-or-down confirmation vote on Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee, despite promises by party leadership to put off confirmation hearings until the inauguration of the next president. | Another Republican member of the US Senate has come out in support of an up-or-down confirmation vote on Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee, despite promises by party leadership to put off confirmation hearings until the inauguration of the next president. |
| Illinois senator Mark Kirk told the Big John Howell Show in Chicago that his Republican peers need to “man up” and vote on the confirmation of Merrick Garland, who was officially nominated for the current vacancy on the supreme court on Wednesday. | Illinois senator Mark Kirk told the Big John Howell Show in Chicago that his Republican peers need to “man up” and vote on the confirmation of Merrick Garland, who was officially nominated for the current vacancy on the supreme court on Wednesday. |
| “Just man up and cast a vote,” Kirk said. “The tough thing about these senatorial jobs is you get yes or no votes - your whole job is to either say yes or no, and explain why.” | “Just man up and cast a vote,” Kirk said. “The tough thing about these senatorial jobs is you get yes or no votes - your whole job is to either say yes or no, and explain why.” |
| Kirk is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection to the US senate this cycle, with the most recent polls of likely Illinois voters showing him behind opponent Tammy Duckworth, a high-profile Democratic congresswoman. | Kirk is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection to the US senate this cycle, with the most recent polls of likely Illinois voters showing him behind opponent Tammy Duckworth, a high-profile Democratic congresswoman. |
| 7.33pm GMT | 7.33pm GMT |
| 19:33 | 19:33 |
| Conservative New York Times columnist - yes, they exist - David Brooks has officially joined the #NeverTrump movement in an editorial appropriately titled “No, Not Trump, Not Ever.” | Conservative New York Times columnist - yes, they exist - David Brooks has officially joined the #NeverTrump movement in an editorial appropriately titled “No, Not Trump, Not Ever.” |
| “Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president,” wrote Brooks. “He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out.” | “Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president,” wrote Brooks. “He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out.” |
| In perhaps the best line of the piece, Brooks says that Trump “insults the office Abraham Lincoln once occupied by running for it with less preparation than most of us would undertake to buy a sofa.” | In perhaps the best line of the piece, Brooks says that Trump “insults the office Abraham Lincoln once occupied by running for it with less preparation than most of us would undertake to buy a sofa.” |
| After admitting that Trump’s supporters - largely stereotyped as members of the white working class - have legitimate grievances, Brooks wrote that Republicans who support Trump are betraying American democracy. | After admitting that Trump’s supporters - largely stereotyped as members of the white working class - have legitimate grievances, Brooks wrote that Republicans who support Trump are betraying American democracy. |
| “Donald Trump is an affront to basic standards of honesty, virtue and citizenship,” Brooks wrote. “He pollutes the atmosphere in which our children are raised. He has already shredded the unspoken rules of political civility that make conversation possible. In his savage regime, public life is just a dog-eat-dog war of all against all.” | “Donald Trump is an affront to basic standards of honesty, virtue and citizenship,” Brooks wrote. “He pollutes the atmosphere in which our children are raised. He has already shredded the unspoken rules of political civility that make conversation possible. In his savage regime, public life is just a dog-eat-dog war of all against all.” |
| “As the founders would have understood, he is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, promise-making, fear-driving and deceiving demagogue they feared.” | “As the founders would have understood, he is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, promise-making, fear-driving and deceiving demagogue they feared.” |
| Trump’s supporters deserve respect. They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever.” | Trump’s supporters deserve respect. They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever.” |
| 7.23pm GMT | 7.23pm GMT |
| 19:23 | 19:23 |
| Has Donald Trump ever... met a dog? | Has Donald Trump ever... met a dog? |
| .@EWErickson got fired like a dog from RedStateand now he is the one leading opposition against me. | .@EWErickson got fired like a dog from RedStateand now he is the one leading opposition against me. |
| 7.05pm GMT | 7.05pm GMT |
| 19:05 | 19:05 |
| A 2008 dashcam video of presidential candidate John Kasich being issued a traffic ticket has resurfaced online in an apparent bid to damage the governor after his victory in the Ohio primary. | A 2008 dashcam video of presidential candidate John Kasich being issued a traffic ticket has resurfaced online in an apparent bid to damage the governor after his victory in the Ohio primary. |
| The video, which was tweeted by Milwaukee sheriff David A. Clarke a few days ago, shows Kasich - then a managing director with Lehman Bros. - receiving a citation for “improper passing” of an emergency vehicle. | The video, which was tweeted by Milwaukee sheriff David A. Clarke a few days ago, shows Kasich - then a managing director with Lehman Bros. - receiving a citation for “improper passing” of an emergency vehicle. |
| The peaceable exchange is contrasted with a video of a speech Kasich gave ten days later, in which Kasich called the officer “an idiot.” | The peaceable exchange is contrasted with a video of a speech Kasich gave ten days later, in which Kasich called the officer “an idiot.” |
| “You just can’t act that way, and what people resent are people in government who don’t treat the client with respect,” Kasich said. | “You just can’t act that way, and what people resent are people in government who don’t treat the client with respect,” Kasich said. |
| Kasich has since apologized to the officer. | Kasich has since apologized to the officer. |
| 6.27pm GMT | 6.27pm GMT |
| 18:27 | 18:27 |
| Donald Trump seems fine with losing out on Lindsey graham’s endorsement... | Donald Trump seems fine with losing out on Lindsey graham’s endorsement... |
| Lyin' Ted Cruz lost all five races on Tuesday-and he was just given the jinx - a Lindsey Graham endorsement. Also backed Jeb. Lindsey got 0! | Lyin' Ted Cruz lost all five races on Tuesday-and he was just given the jinx - a Lindsey Graham endorsement. Also backed Jeb. Lindsey got 0! |
| 6.05pm GMT | 6.05pm GMT |
| 18:05 | 18:05 |
| Scott Bixby | Scott Bixby |
| The editor-in-chief of one of the most influential Jewish-oriented publications in the country is calling for a boycott of billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s scheduled speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday. | The editor-in-chief of one of the most influential Jewish-oriented publications in the country is calling for a boycott of billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s scheduled speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday. |
| “His many offensive, outrageous statements should have disqualified him from the invite list, but then again, they also should have disqualified him from earning a single primary vote for president,” wrote Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, a century-old newspaper geared towards Jewish Americans. | “His many offensive, outrageous statements should have disqualified him from the invite list, but then again, they also should have disqualified him from earning a single primary vote for president,” wrote Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, a century-old newspaper geared towards Jewish Americans. |
| Instead of attending the speech, Eisner suggested an 13-point list of suggestions for AIPAC conference attendees - one that, surprisingly, does not beging with disinviting the candidate entirely. | Instead of attending the speech, Eisner suggested an 13-point list of suggestions for AIPAC conference attendees - one that, surprisingly, does not beging with disinviting the candidate entirely. |
| “AIPAC can’t disinvite him. That’s not good manners, even if the invitee has shown he doesn’t have any himself,” Eisner wrote. Instead, “AIPAC should give him a time slot somewhere between 3:00 and 3:45 am. If that’s not possible, schedule his appearance before Hillary Clinton speaks. Let her eviscerate him. That’ll give him a taste of what’s to come.” | “AIPAC can’t disinvite him. That’s not good manners, even if the invitee has shown he doesn’t have any himself,” Eisner wrote. Instead, “AIPAC should give him a time slot somewhere between 3:00 and 3:45 am. If that’s not possible, schedule his appearance before Hillary Clinton speaks. Let her eviscerate him. That’ll give him a taste of what’s to come.” |
| Other suggestions on Eisner’s list include refusing to play entrance music for Trump, withholding snarky tweets and refusing to livestream the event. | Other suggestions on Eisner’s list include refusing to play entrance music for Trump, withholding snarky tweets and refusing to livestream the event. |
| Alternately, Eisner wrote, attendees could go do something else, since “Trump seems like a man who gets hives if he sees empty seats.” | Alternately, Eisner wrote, attendees could go do something else, since “Trump seems like a man who gets hives if he sees empty seats.” |
| Trump has been heavily criticized in Jewish circles for telling Morning Joe that he wants voters to “let me be sort of a neutral guy” on issues relating to Israel and Palestine. | Trump has been heavily criticized in Jewish circles for telling Morning Joe that he wants voters to “let me be sort of a neutral guy” on issues relating to Israel and Palestine. |
| 5.39pm GMT | 5.39pm GMT |
| 17:39 | 17:39 |
| Haroon Moghul | Haroon Moghul |
| If you were Ted Cruz, and needed to break into the news cycle, consolidate conservative support, and stop the Trump juggernaut, what would you do? Easy: pick on Muslims. | If you were Ted Cruz, and needed to break into the news cycle, consolidate conservative support, and stop the Trump juggernaut, what would you do? Easy: pick on Muslims. |
| We’ve come to expect this from a party whose supposedly moderate candidates are still prejudiced. Even so, Cruz’s latest move still has the power to dismay. | We’ve come to expect this from a party whose supposedly moderate candidates are still prejudiced. Even so, Cruz’s latest move still has the power to dismay. |
| The presidential hopeful has named Frank Gaffney as a national security adviser to his campaign team. For those of you who don’t know him, Gaffney is a conspiracy theorist whose obsessive focus on Islam and Muslims is clear from his stated concerns about a “worrying pattern of official US submission to Islam and the theo-political-legal program the latter’s authorities call Shariah”. He believes the redesigned logo of the Missile Defense Agency, for example “appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo”. | The presidential hopeful has named Frank Gaffney as a national security adviser to his campaign team. For those of you who don’t know him, Gaffney is a conspiracy theorist whose obsessive focus on Islam and Muslims is clear from his stated concerns about a “worrying pattern of official US submission to Islam and the theo-political-legal program the latter’s authorities call Shariah”. He believes the redesigned logo of the Missile Defense Agency, for example “appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo”. |
| Related: Think Trump's an Islamophobe? Meet Ted Cruz's national security advisor | Haroon Moghul | Related: Think Trump's an Islamophobe? Meet Ted Cruz's national security advisor | Haroon Moghul |
| 5.14pm GMT | 5.14pm GMT |
| 17:14 | 17:14 |
| Dan Roberts | Dan Roberts |
| Just a few steps from the White House, the latest secret gathering of Republicans seeking an answer to the question of who can still stop Donald Trump reached a demoralising answer for their party on Thursday night: Hillary Clinton. | Just a few steps from the White House, the latest secret gathering of Republicans seeking an answer to the question of who can still stop Donald Trump reached a demoralising answer for their party on Thursday night: Hillary Clinton. |
| A bleak mood has swept over the Grand Old Party in the past 24 hours as the multiple implications of Trump’s latest victory in primary elections on Tuesday have slowly sunk in. | A bleak mood has swept over the Grand Old Party in the past 24 hours as the multiple implications of Trump’s latest victory in primary elections on Tuesday have slowly sunk in. |
| The first realisation came quickly, as Marco Rubio’s chastening defeat in his home state of Florida forced him to join Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Chris Christie on the heap of discarded alternatives. | The first realisation came quickly, as Marco Rubio’s chastening defeat in his home state of Florida forced him to join Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Chris Christie on the heap of discarded alternatives. |
| But the second, even more uncomfortable, realisation has taken longer to internalise. Even if Cruz and Kasich could provide an answer to the demographic conundrum, they barely stand a chance of beating Trump to the nomination. | But the second, even more uncomfortable, realisation has taken longer to internalise. Even if Cruz and Kasich could provide an answer to the demographic conundrum, they barely stand a chance of beating Trump to the nomination. |
| Related: Who can stop Trump? Republicans may have little choice but to vote Clinton | Related: Who can stop Trump? Republicans may have little choice but to vote Clinton |