Despite doomsday scenarios laid out by evangelical and conservative critics, Donald Trump scored smashing victories on Super Tuesday, winning at least seven of 11 states in the U.S. Republican presidential primaries.
Trump's victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts,Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia gave the brash New York billionaire a firmer grip on the Republican Party's presidential nomination that could make it more difficult for his rivals to hurdle, Newsmax reported.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Trump's closest rival, managed to win his home state, Oklahoma and Alaska.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, another close contender, won his first primary in Minnesota.
Based on the latest figures posted on the New York Times 2016 Primary Results and Calendar, Trump has now won a total of 274 delegates, Cruz 149, Rubio 82, John Kasich 25 and Ben Carson, 8. A candidate needs a delegate count of 1,237 to win the Republican presidential nomination outright.
In the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Clinton took full command, rolling to huge victories over Bernie Sanders in seven states—Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia—with Sanders winning in four states: Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont.
Clinton has now won a total of 1,001 delegates as against Sanders' 371. To win the Democratic nomination outright, a candidate has to win 2,383 delegates.
Clinton's delegate lead over Sanders is notably larger than the one that Barack Obama had over her at this point in the 2008 presidential race, according to the New York Times.
The next electoral battles are set on Saturday, March 5, with the Republican Party holding a primary in Louisiana and caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky, and Maine. The Democratic Party will hold caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska and a primary in Louisiana on the same day.
"I feel awfully good," Trump said, when asked if he views himself as the presumptive nominee at a late-night news conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
One of his notable wins was in Virginia, a state where Rubio was expected to win his primary after aggressively campaigning there.
Trump, who had already won three primaries before his Super Tuesday romp, told reporters that Rubio "hurt" himself by his vicious attacks on him.
"He decided to become Don Rickles," Trump said, invoking the name of a comedian known for his insult humour. "But Don Rickles has a lot more talent."
Rubio vowed to continue fighting. Speaking to supporters in Miami, he said he'd begun to turn the tide on Trump by taking a more aggressive stance against him.
"Just five days ago, we began to unmask the true nature of the front-runner," he said. "Five days ago, we began to explain to the American people that Donald Trump is a con artist. In just five days, we have seen the impact that it's having all across the country."
Rubio faces a crucial test when his Florida home state holds its primary on March 15. Surveys show Trump holding a sizeable lead over Rubio and Cruz in Florida.
Meanwhile, Cruz called on the remaining GOP field to unite behind his candidacy to defeat Trump, Newsmax reported.
"Tomorrow morning, we have a choice," Cruz told cheering supporters at the Redneck Country Club in Stafford, Texas. "So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump's path to the nomination remains more likely. And that would be a disaster for Republicans, for conservatives, and for the nation."
Cruz said he is the only candidate who has shown he can beat Trump.
"We are the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump once, twice, three times!" he said.
Cruz asked the candidates who have yet to win a state, referring to Kasich and Carson, to "prayerfully consider" uniting.
"We welcome you on our team united as one," he said. "That is the only way to beat Donald Trump. Our campaign beats Donald Trump resoundingly. For that to happen we must come together."
He also urged voters in upcoming primaries to consider voting for him instead of the current candidates.
"In our nation's darkest hours, FDR told us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. JFK told us not to ask what our country could do for us but to ask what we could do for our country," he said. "America shouldn't have a president whose words would make you embarrassed if your children repeated them."
