Iowa Rep. Steve King believes the Republican presidential nominee will be decided at the national convention this summer and that the party should coalesce around that person — even if it’s Donald Trump.
Mr. King, who has endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s GOP presidential bid, said Friday if front-runner Mr. Trump secures the delegates he needs to win the nomination outright, he will support the business mogul come November.
“We have to get to the convention and settle on the nominee — that’s what’s dividing America right now, and the Republican Party,” Mr. King said. “I wish that we had been able to winnow earlier so it would be down to maybe a two-candidate race right now, but we’ll get there, and at the convention we need to follow the rules that we’ve all agreed to play by.
“If Trump has the majority of delegates that vote for him on the first ballot [of] the convention, he’s the nominee and we should honor that decision,” he said.
Mr. King said the fractured party will be unified after the convention in July — though he believes there’s a chance no candidate will be able to secure the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.
Mr. Cruz is second in delegates to Mr. Trump after winning Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska on Super Tuesday and he’s expected to perform strongly in the contests this weekend.
“I think that Ted Cruz is in a place to win that nomination at the convention,” Mr. King said. “And I think he’s at a position where he has the chance to have that secure before he would go to convention, and I think he reflects our platform more than any other candidate, and I think his convictions are in his bones like my convictions are in mine.”
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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