Republican US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has gotten a boost from former contenders Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, who said the Texas senator is the party’s best last hope for stopping front-runner Donald Trump.
Ahead of Wisconsin’s April 5 primary, Wisconsin Governor Walker, who dropped out of the race in fall last year, said that only Cruz can catch Trump as time runs short in the primary season.
Former Florida governor Bush gave Cruz his endorsement — a step perhaps designed to hurt Trump more than help the Texas senator.
“For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena,” said Bush, who was knocked out of the contest last month. “To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.”
As Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed rising national security concerns, the Republican contest was hit again by personal insults — this time involving the candidates’ families.
Cruz slammed Trump during an appearance in the front-runner’s hometown for making a vague threat on Twitter the night before to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife.
“Gutter politics,” Cruz said.
Trump’s warning that he would disclose something about Heidi Cruz came in response to an ad by an outside political group that featured a provocative photograph of Trump’s wife, Melania, when she was a model and before they were married.
Trump misidentified the Cruz campaign as the source of the ad.
Heidi Cruz addressed the situation directly during an appearance outside Milwaukee.
“The things that Donald Trump says are not based in reality,” she said.
The Republican infighting came the day after Cruz scored a win in Utah, while Trump claimed Arizona. Despite modest signs of strength, the first-term Texas senator needs a near miracle to catch the billionaire businessman.
The day-after delegate math laid bare the challenge: Cruz needs to win 83 percent of the remaining delegates to overtake the front-runner. Further complicating Cruz’s path, Ohio Governor John Kasich vowed to stay in the race at least until the next primary.
Things were decidedly less contentious on the Democratic side.
Clinton won in Arizona on Tuesday, maintaining a lopsided advantage over US Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race, despite his wins in Utah and Idaho on the same night. The former secretary of state is now almost three-quarters of the way to the Democratic nomination.
As the world grapples with a new wave of overseas violence, Clinton engaged Trump on national security with a California speech painting him as a misfit as potential commander-in-chief and laying out what she would do to keep the US safe in perilous times.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese