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Cruz Spokesman: 'Even the Insufferable John Kasich' Managed to Win His Own State

April 19, 2016

Sen. Ted Cruz's (R., Texas) spokesman Ron Nehring said Tuesday that even "the insufferable John Kasich" managed to win his home state Republican primary while downplaying expectations ahead of Donald Trump's likely New York victory.

"Donald Trump is going to have a good night in New York ... Everybody knows that. That's no surprise," Nehring said. "Even the insufferable John Kasich was able to win his own state. Now, he's lost every state before and every state since."

Trump is expected to win easily in Tuesday's New York primary, as is Democratic frontrunner and former New York U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton. Kasich's only primary victory to date was his home state of Ohio.

Nehring said the Cruz campaign was "well prepared" for upcoming states after New York, telling MSNBC's Tamron Hall to "just watch."

The Cruz campaign's frustration with Kasich staying in the GOP nomination fight, even though he has been mathematically eliminated from clinching the nomination for weeks, appears to have boiled over. Cruz has called for Kasich to exit the race to make it a one-on-one battle with Trump, but the Ohio Governor said such a notion was "absurd."

Also, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney said that Trump would likely win the nomination on the first ballot of a brokered convention if it remained a three-person race. Romney is fiercely opposed to Trump clinching the nomination, ripping the frontrunner as a fraud in a speech last month.

Cruz is the only other GOP candidate who could conceivably capture the nomination before the convention, but his path looks extremely narrow after what will likely be a decisive loss in New York. His best chance appears to be winning the nod at a brokered convention.

Kasich is one of three remaining GOP candidates, but he's fourth in the delegate count. He still trails Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), even though Rubio dropped out of the race after Trump rolled to a victory in Florida last month.