Trump emerges Republican flag bearer

Donald Trump, controversial American billionaire, has emerged the flag bearer of the Republican party after winning the Indiana primary election on Wednesday.

Trump crossed the 1,000-delegate mark on Tuesday night with less than 200 delegates to go, effectively forcing his leading opponent, Ted Cruz, out of the race.

Though Trump still has to get up to 1,237 delegates votes to clinch the ticket, he is considered the winner with the withdrawal of his main opposition.

“It is a beautiful thing to watch, and a beautiful thing to behold. We are going to make America great again,” Trump said in his victory speech.

Cruz, who garnered 572 delegates, said he saw no path forward, after losing to Trump, who now has 1,053 votes.

“And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism, for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign,” Cruz said.

“From the beginning I said I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight, I am sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed.

“Together we left it all on the field in Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path.”

Still, he told his supporters that he was not “suspending our fight for liberty”.

Bernie Sanders of the Democratic Party defeated Hilary Clinton in Indiana, but is still rather far from clinching his party’s ticket.

It is expected that Cruz will pledge support for Trump after dropping out of the race, but the senator insists Trump is a “pathological liar”.

With Trump the unofficial candidate for the Republican, he immediately took his battle to Clinton’s door steps:

What a great evening we had. So interesting that Sanders beat Crooked Hillary. The dysfunctional system is totally rigged against him!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2016

I would rather run against Crooked Hillary Clinton than Bernie Sanders and that will happen because the books are cooked against Bernie!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2016

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In all of these, New York Times sees Trump’s victory as “the Republican Party’s trek into the darkness“.