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U.S. Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that there may be riots if after his current string of primary election victories, he is denied the party’s presidential ticket.
Tuesday was another good day for Trump who scored big wins in primaries in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina. He made Marco Rubio drop out of the race after beating him in Florida, Rubio’s home state.
Trump has so far gotten won 646 delegates inching closer to the 1,237 convention delegates he needs to win the nomination. His closest rival, Ted Cruz has 397 delegates so far.
But Trump lost the crucial state of Ohio and left the door open for those in the party trying to stop him from becoming the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election.
Trump might fall short of the majority required, enabling the party’s establishment to put forward another name at the July convention in Cleveland to formally pick its candidate.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Trump said the party could not deny him the nomination should he fail to win enough delegates.
Reuters quoted him as saying:
“I don’t think you can say that we don’t get it automatically. I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots. I’m representing many, many millions of people.”
Republican Party leaders are appalled at Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and believe his policy positions are out of step with core Republican sentiment, such as his vow to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, temporarily ban Muslims from the United States and build a wall along the border with Mexico.