GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday downplayed the argument that supporters of candidates who drop out of the race will automatically go to his opponents — something a few of them seem to be counting on as part of their campaign strategies.
“If somebody drops out, I’m going to get a lot of votes,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox and Friends.” “As an example, if Ted Cruz dropped out, I’d get a lot of those votes. If any one of ’em drop out, I would get a lot of those votes.”
Mr. Trump cruised to victory in Nevada Tuesday with 45.9 percent of the vote, with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida well back at about 23.8 percent and Mr. Cruz at about 21.3 percent.
“I watch these pundits — I’ve been watching them for a year — but I’ve been watching these pundits … they just add up numbers,” Mr. Trump said. “They forget that when somebody drops out I get a lot of those votes.”
Mr. Trump said people have been saying he’s reached his “ceiling” for about six months.
“I started at 12 [percent] and I reached my ceiling. I went to 16 [percent], they said, ’That is a ceiling — that’s the most he’s going to get,’ ” he said. “And then the national polls are even higher. You know, the national polls I’m at 44 [percent]. And that’s with five people. I mean, that’s a lot of people.”
Talking about his unfavorable numbers, Mr. Trump predicted he would get “nicer” because he now has fewer people to attack.
“I think my favorables are going to be very good,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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