A rift in the U.S. Republican Party is growing fast as Donald Trump moves closer to clinching the required number of delegates to win the party's nomination for the November 2016 presidential election.
GOP political powerbrokers are now scrambling to choose sides—either to oppose or support Trump—amid talks that the party establishment could decide to field their own candidate at their convention in Cleveland, Fox News reported.
The party has been basically split into two major factions—the group opposing Trump and the one supporting him.
Most members of the group opposing Trump have thrown their support to Sen. Ted Cruz. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former candidate who previously had backed Jeb Bush, announced on Thursday that he's now supporting Cruz. Graham said he actually prefers Ohio Gov. John Kasich but said only Cruz has the potential to defeat Trump for the nomination.
"If we give the banner of the Republican Party to Donald Trump, we tarnish it, maybe, forever. That might be the end of the Republican Party as we know it," warned Graham.
Graham is now on the side of Cruz even though he previously had been opposed to the Texas senator. He told CNN last month Cruz might be worse than President Obama and if the GOP choice is between Trump and Cruz, "it's the difference between poisoned or shot—you're still dead."
Even Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out of the race on Tuesday, seemed to have thrown his support to Cruz, saying he's the "only conservative left in the race."
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who had backed Rubio, is also now rooting for Cruz.
The Texas senator can also count on the support of former GOP presidential candidates Rick Perry and Carly Fiorina.
On the other side, Trump has secured the endorsements of former GOP candidates Chris Christie and Ben Carson. This week, he also got the nod of Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
"Donald Trump is clearly the will of the voters. We need to listen to them, coalesce behind him," Scott told Fox News.
Trump is confident that he will eventually win the nomination, getting the required 1,237 delegates. However, party leaders do not share his confidence. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday it's becoming more likely that the party convention will be open.
Nevertheless, Trump could still emerge as the nominee even at a contested convention, according to Fox News.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News on Thursday that the talk of a contested convention is only complicating the process. He said he expects Trump and Cruz to corner about 80 percent of the delegates. As such, the two could not be expected to yield to an insurgent candidate from the establishment.
"It's an amusing parlor game, it has no meaning in the real world," Gingrich said. "If they want to form the let's elect Hillary Clinton club, fine."
