Trump seals his unlikely rise with the support of 1,238 delegates
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Donald Trump reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president yesterday, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter autumn campaign.
Trump was put over the top in the Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party’s unbound delegates who said they would support him at the national convention in July.
Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard said: “I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is. I have no problem supporting Mr Trump.”
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump has reached 1,238.
Trump, who for years delivered caustic commentary on the state of the nation from the sidelines but had never run for office, fought off 16 other Republican contenders in an often ugly primary race.
Many on the right have been slow to warm to him. Others worry about his crass personality and the lewd comments he’s made about women.
But millions of grassroots activists, many of them outsiders to the political process, have embraced Trump as a plain-speaking populist who is not afraid to offend.
Steve House, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, said he likes the billionaire’s background as a businessman.
“Leadership is leadership,” House said. “If he can surround himself with the political talent, I think he will be fine.”
Trump’s pivotal moment comes amid a new sign of internal problems.
Hours before clinching the nomination, he announced the abrupt departure of political director Rick Wiley, who was in the midst of leading the campaign’s push to hire staff in key battleground states. In a statement, Trump’s campaign said Wiley had been hired only on a short-term basis.
His hiring about six weeks ago was seen as a sign that party veterans were embracing Trump’s campaign. A person familiar with the situation said Wiley clashed with others in Trump’s operation and didn’t want to put longtime allies in key jobs.
Some delegates who confirmed their decision to back Trump said they are supporting him out of a sense of obligation because he won their state’s primary.
Cameron Linton of Pittsburgh said he will back Trump on the first ballot since he won the presidential primary vote in Linton’s congressional district.
“If there’s a second ballot I won’t vote for Donald Trump,” Linton said. “He’s ridiculous. There’s no other way to say it.”
Trump’s path to the nomination began with an escalator ride.
He and his wife, Melania, descended an escalator into the basement lobby of the Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, for an announcement many observers had said would never come. His speech then set the tone for his ability to dominate the headlines with provocative statements, insults and hyperbole. He called Mexicans “rapists,” promised to build a wall between the US and Mexico and proposed banning most Muslims from the US.
He criticized women for their looks. And he unleashed an uncanny marketing ability in which he deduced his critics’ weak points and distilled them to nicknames that stuck. “Little Marco” Rubio, “Weak” Jeb Bush and “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, among others, all were forced into reacting to Trump. They fell one-by-one — leaving Trump the sole survivor of a riotous Republican primary.
His rallies became magnets for free publicity. Onstage, he dispensed populism that drew thousands of supporters, many wearing his “Make America Great Again” hats and chanting: “Build the wall!”
The events drew protests too — with demonstrators sometimes forcibly ejected from the proceedings. One rally in Chicago was canceled after thousands of demonstrators surrounded the venue and the Secret Service could no longer vouch for the candidate’s safety.
Trump, 69, the son of a New York City real estate magnate, rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, overseeing major real estate deals, watching his financial fortunes rise, then fall, hosting “The Apprentice” TV show and writing more than a dozen books.
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