Trump ridicules rivals’ effort to derail presidential bid

United States (U.S.) billionaire real estate mogul, Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, ridiculed his two rivals’ joint effort to derail his campaign yesterday, calling it a “horrible act of desperation.”

Trump’s challengers, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, announced a plan late on Sunday to try to deny the brash Trump, who has never held elective office, from winning the nomination on the first ballot at the party’s July national convention, in hopes convention delegates would pick them on a subsequent ballot.

Kasich said he would stop campaigning in the mid-western state of Indiana, where Republicans vote in a nominating contest on May 3, to give Cruz a better shot of winning there against Trump.

Meanwhile, Cruz agreed to halt his efforts in two western states, Oregon, which votes on May 17, and New Mexico, with voting on June 7, to give Kasich more room to fight Trump for convention delegates in those states. Both Cruz and Kasich said they would continue to campaign against each other and Trump in other states.

He said the two candidates’ coordination to block him “would often be illegal” in corporate transactions. “This horrible act of desperation from two campaigns who have totally failed, makes me even more determined, for the good of the Republican Party and our country, to prevail,” he said.

The Cruz-Kasich strategy signals a marked shift for Cruz, who has previously rejected overtures to join with Kasich to try to block Trump. The New York developer holds a commanding lead in convention delegates over both of his challengers, but is not yet assured of winning a majority of convention delegates before the quadrennial gathering starts.

Cruz has repeatedly called for Kasich to drop out, saying he was a spoiler in the race, winning votes and a handful of delegates that were denying Cruz a chance for a head-to-head faceoff with Trump.