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Presumptive Nominee? Trump Indiana Win Creates Big Challenge to Unite Party

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Donald Trump delivered a knock-out punch to Sen. Ted Cruz, winning an astounding victory in Indiana Tuesday night.

The state was Cruz's last stand, but he was unable to deliver. That means Trump is now the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

"It really looks like a massive victory and looks like we win all 57 delegates," a subdued Trump told supporters Tuesday night.

With Trump now only about 200 delegates away from what he needs to secure the nomination, even RNC Chairman Reince Priebus acknowledged that Trump is the party's presumptive nominee.

"We need to unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Cruz announced he's suspending his campaign, saying, "We gave it everything we got, but the voters chose another path."

And now it is clear the path is a Washington outsider, with Republicans preferring a non-politician, a brash and outspoken billionaire businessman over the Tea Party candidate.

In New York, Trump told his supporters America needs to win again because it's been losing all the time.

"We lose with our military--we can't beat ISIS. We lose with trade. We lose with borders. We lose with everything," he said. "We're not going to lose, we're going to start winning again and we're going to win bigly, believe me."

But the question now is can Trump win his race for the White House against Hillary Clinton?

The former secretary of state has 92 percent of the delegates she needs to secure her party's nomination.

But Democrat socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders -- who upset Clinton to win the Indiana primary -- has yet to concede defeat, insisting said he has momentum.

"I understand that Secretary Clinton thinks that this campaign is over. I've got some bad news for her," Sanders told supporters.

But with many super delegates already pledged to Clinton, it seems mathematically impossible for Sanders to win his party's nomination. Nevertheless, he promises to stay in the race.

Although their party conventions and official nominations are still more than two months away, Trump and  Clinton will now focus their campaign efforts against one another.

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About The Author

Gary Lane
Gary
Lane

Mr. Lane currently serves as International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News. He has traveled to more than 120 countries—many of them restricted nations or areas hostile to Christianity and other minority faiths where he has interviewed persecution victims and has provided video reports and analysis for CBN News. Also, he has provided written stories and has served as a consultant for the Voice of the Martyrs. Gary joined The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1984 as the first full-time Middle East Correspondent for CBN News. Based in Jerusalem, Gary produced