And so it begins… Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. In the Indiana primary the golf-obsessed poltroon crushed Ted Cruz, making it impossible for anyone to stop him. He will have enough delegates before the convention and the chairman of the Republican National Committee has already declared him the presumptive nominee and offered up the RNC’s services.
Within a few hours of the outcome becoming clear, Cruz announced that he was out. As of midnight UK time, CBS called it with 59% of precincts reporting in Indiana, Trump led Cruz by 16 points, 53% to 37%.
Cruz proceeded to give an extremely long speech which seemed to be pitched towards running again in 2020 (yeah, thanks, we’ll get back to you on that, Ted). “I’m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed. Together we left it all on the field in Indiana…the voters chose another path. And so, with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism, for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign. But hear me now, I am not suspending our fight for liberty.”
John Kasich is still in the race, just, but it’s over. The hitherto unthinkable has happened. The Republican party is lumbered with a candidate who has made the most appalling remarks about women, the disabled, Muslims and Mexicans. He is a trainee demagogue who burbles on like a pillock at the bar about his pet hates. And he will be the GOP’s candidate against Hillary Clinton. For America, this is a shameful day. For the rest of us it is terrifying.
I’m not remotely religious, but I must admit I could – right now – take up praying.
