BORDEN, Ind. — Donald Trump says a collaboration between Ted Cruz and John Kasich aimed at unifying the anti-Trump vote in some remaining primaries is a desperate move by "mathematically dead" rivals.
Such collusion would be illegal in many industries, the Republican presidential front-runner said, but it's illustrative of "everything that is wrong in Washington and our political system."
Under the arrangement outlined late Sunday, Kasich, the Ohio governor, will step back in the May 3 Indiana contest to let Cruz bid for voters who don't like Trump. Cruz, a Texas senator, will do the same for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.
The arrangement does not address the five Northeastern states set to vote Tuesday.
"It is big news today that John Kasich has decided to pull out of Indiana to give us a head to head contest with Donald Trump," Cruz said as he campaigned in Indiana on Monday. "That is good for the men and women of Indiana. It's good for the country to have a clear and direct choice."
Kasich sent mixed messages, however, as he addressed the pact for the first time while campaigning in Philadelphia.
Asked what Indiana voters should do next week, the Ohio governor just 13 hours after the arrangement was announced urged them to vote for him.
"I've never told them not to vote for me. They ought to vote for me," Kasich said in a Philadelphia diner. He said he simply agreed not to spend "resources" in Indiana.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.