Donald Trump called on Republicans to rally around his candidacy Wednesday
As he said there could be "riots" if the party will somehow deny him from the presidential nomination.
"I don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically," Trump told CNN after a night of wins in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. "I think you'd have riots. I think you'd have riots. I'm representing many, many millions of people."
Trump's remaining opponents did not seem inclined to give him the nomination. John Kasich predicted that his win in Ohio would propel him to victory in an open convention, while Ted Cruz said he is looking for a one-on-one showdown with the New York businessman.
In any event, the Republicans now have only a three-candidate race: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio pulled out Tuesday night after he lost his home state big to Trump. "I'm going to be the nominee," Kasich told NBC's Today show.
Cruz, currently second to Trump in terms of Republican delegates, began appealing to Rubio's followers to join an anti-Trump coalition, and also suggested that Kasich exit the race because it is mathematically impossible for him to win the GOP nomination.
"The longer Kasich stays in the race, the more it benefits Trump," Cruz said. "Unlike Kasich, our campaign, number one, has beaten Donald Trump over and over and over again."
The candidates hit the talk shows a day after Trump won primaries in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. The New York businessman had a slight lead over Cruz in Missouri, but news networks have not called the race because absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted.
In the wake of Tuesday's primaries, Trump currently leads in convention delegates with 621, about half of what he needs to clinch. according to the Associated Press. He is followed by Cruz (396), Rubio (168) and Kasich (138).
Anti-Trump Republicans are hoping to block the businessman at the party convention in July, seeking to deny him a majority of delegates on the first ballot. Many delegates who are bound to a particular candidate on the first ballot become free agents on subsequent votes.
Kasich predicted that an open convention would come to pass because "nobody is going to have enough delegates." Kasich also told NBC that neither Trump nor Cruz can win a fall election against the Democrats, and he can.
"They can't come in to Ohio with the philosophy they have and win," Kasich said. "You can't win Ohio, you can't be president."
Trump predicted he would rack up a majority of delegates before the convention opens July 18 in Cleveland. Even if he is a little short, Trump said he should still be awarded the nomination if, as expected, he has a large delegate lead over competitors. Otherwise, he told CNN, "I think bad things would happen."
