It's "pretty obvious" that Donald Trump will reach the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the GOP presidential nomination after Ted Cruz suspended his campaign, but at the same time, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he will not be pushing Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Trump's last remaining challenger, to drop out.
"Obviously, that's up to John Kasich," Priebus told
CNN's "New Day" host Alisyn Camerota Wednesday morning. "He's got his own, his own platform and his own agenda he's returning and I'm going to leave that up to him."
Priebus admitted that he did not predict Trump would be the eventual presumptive nominee, but at the same time, he doesn't think that "necessarily it's bad."
"I think something different and something new is probably good for our party, and, look, I don't think anyone predicted what happened," said Priebus. "We're going to get behind the presumptive nominee. Obviously, you still have to get to 1,237 delegates, that number still stands."
But it was surprising that Cruz suspended his campaign, said Priebus, as "he ran a very, very serious operation, just an incredible ground game. His delegate operation was unbelievable."
Now the momentum is there for Trump, though, as he has been winning " in every single state," and it's time for the party to unite, said Priebus.
"It's time to come together, and I said, you may recall, months ago. I thought we would have more clarity in our party before the Democrats do," he told Camerota. "Look where they're at. I mean, Hillary Clinton, she can't win a state. She's going to have to win somewhere if she's going to win the nominee of the Democratic Party."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took Indiana Tuesday night, and Priebus said that as long as he remains in the race, Clinton is "spending money on primaries when she should be having to spend money on ground game and battleground states."
He admitted, though, that it will not be easy bringing the party back together after the Trump-Cruz battles.
"We had two candidates that had very serious operations with deep support, both on the ground and on the air, everywhere for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every 6 minutes on cable," said Priebus. "Everybody is fighting about this. And it's going to take some time, but we're going to get there...I think people are going to understand that the words 'President Hillary Clinton' are something we can't stand for."
Meanwhile, Priebus said that the party has not made any promises to Trump.
"If Donald Trump ultimately becomes the nominee, which I think he will be, he's going to be joining the Republican Party," he said. "The candidates join us; we don't join the candidates."
And the party's platform is clear, as "we don't change what we believe in," and Priebus said he believes Trump will be chosen, "and he's going to join the party."
Priebus said he and Trump talked Wednesday night about unifying the party, and he thinks that is also important to Trump moving forward.
"We can't win with one arm tied behind our backs," said Priebus. "We've got to have everything at the ready, and I think we will, but I'm not naive. It will take some time. This was a very contentious battle."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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