DETROIT (AP) – The Republican establishment and its last best hopes to defeat Donald Trump spent a long and extraordinary day denouncing the billionaire businessman as dangerous, a “phony” and a “con man” unfit for office. Then, when it was all over, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich swallowed hard and said they’d support Trump if he wins the GOP nomination.
Their pained commitments, at the end of the 11th GOP debate on Thursday, put into sharp focus the dilemma the Republican Party faces as Trump continues to dominate the race for delegates and the campaign conversation.
Beyond harsh words, GOP leaders see little opportunity to stop Trump’s march toward the presidential nomination. Panicked party leaders are poring over complicated delegate math, outlining hazy scenarios for a contested national convention and even flirting with the idea of a third-party effort to derail Trump’s insurgent candidacy.
A tumultuous day opened with Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, making a rare public appearance to denounce Trump as a fraud who is “playing the American public for suckers.” Romney confidant Ron Kaufman, a senior member of the Republican National Committee, openly embraced the possibility of a contested convention, saying, “If that’s the only way to stop Trump, it makes sense.”
Also publicly criticizing Trump: House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was Romney’s running mate, and 2008 GOP nominee John McCain. Ryan said Trump’s more controversial ideas “disfigured” conservatism, and McCain voiced concern about Trump’s “uninformed and indeed dangerous statements” on national security.