Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday argued face-to-face with demonstrators allied with Donald Trump in Indiana, trying to convert them to his camp as he furiously campaigned for the state’s primary Tuesday that threatens to doom his run.
The Texas senator walked up to a half dozen protesters who were carrying blue-and-white Trump signs and shouting out “we don’t want you,” “do the math” and “time to drop out.”
He attempted to convince them, as he has for voters across the Hoosier State, that Mr. Trump is a closet liberal who backs the same policies as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, including opposing gun rights.
“With all respect, Donald Trump is deceiving you, playing you for a chump,” Mr. Cruz told a burly man wearing sunglasses and holding a Trump sign.
“Lyin’ Ted,” shouted the man, repeating the label Mr. Trump has stuck upon Mr. Cruz.
Mr. Cruz needs a big win in Indiana to remain a credible rival to the front-running billionaire businessman. But he’s trailing far behind in every recent poll in the state and the grim reality appeared to be sinking in with his campaign.
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Mr. Trump has a better than good shot at locking up the nomination before the Republican National Convention in July. And he’ll be virtually unstoppable if he can win Indiana and most of its 57 delegates.
Mr. Trump had a 17-point lead over Mr. Cruz, 44 percent to 27 percent, in a Gravis poll released Monday.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who pulled out of Indiana in a deal to give Mr. Cruz a one-on-one fight against Mr. Trump, captured 9 percent of the vote in the poll.
Mr. Trump enjoyed a 15-point lead over Mr. Cruz in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Maris poll released Sunday.
Mr. Cruz told reporters that he intended to stay in the race until the end as long as he had a “viable path to victory.”
“A question everyone here should ask,” Mr. Cruz began to tell the protesters.
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“Are you Canadian?” interrupted the man, echoing a frequent taunt from Mr. Trump, who has questioned whether Mr. Cruz is eligible for the presidency because he was born to an American mother in Canada.
The exchange played on MSNBC and other cable news channel throughout the day.
At a Trump rally later in Carmel, the real estate tycoon applauded the protesters, saying they weren’t fooled by Mr. Cruz’s lies about his stance on taxes, Obamacare and illegal immigration.
“Is that guy here with the sunglasses,” Mr. Trump said. “Whoever he is, I thought he was very cool. I though him and his friends were because they are not going to be buffaloed by lies.”
He chided Mr. Cruz for accusing him of lying about building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Lyin’ Ted. It’s unbelievable,” said Mr. Trump. “Believe me folks. We’re building the wall.”
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Kasich have been mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination outright. So they are pursuing a strategy of blocking Mr. Trump from securing the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and forcing a contested July convention in Cleveland, where they potentially could win after multiple ballots.
But it is getting more difficult by the day for Mr. Cruz and Mr. Kasich to argue that they can stop the “Trump Train.”
Scrambling to score a come-from-behind victory, Mr. Cruz and his allies spread out across Indiana with 10 campaign events. He campaign with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who endorse him.
He was also joined by former Hewlett-Packard CEO and GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, whom he tapped as his running mate should he win the nomination, and conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck.
Looking for a last-minute boost, the Cruz campaign launched a new TV ad in the state to showcase Mr. Pence’s support. The governor vouched for Mr. Cruz and called him the heir to the “Reagan agenda” in the 30-second spot.
“This is a time for choosing. All of America is looking to Indiana to make a choice,” Mr. Pence says in the ad, which began airing statewide Monday. “I’m a Reagan conservative. I see Ted Cruz as a principled conservative who’s dedicated his career to advocating the Reagan agenda.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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