Sen. Ted Cruz tried to sway some supporters of his rival Donald Trump while campaigning in Indiana Monday ahead of the state’s primary, but they shut him down.
“We don’t want you,” a supporter flat-out told Cruz before telling him to “do the math.” The “math” line references the delegate deficit Cruz would have to overcome in order to clinch the nomination. Cruz continued trying to connect with the man for several minutes—even noting that if the tables were turned, Trump wouldn’t converse with a protester—but couldn’t bring the Trump advocate around. The Trump supporter said he particularly liked the billionaire businessman’s plan to build a wall along the southwestern U.S. border and force Mexico to foot the bill (the Mexican government has repeatedly said it would not pay). And then he called the Texas Senator “Lyin’ Ted,” a nickname coined by Trump.
As TIME’s Philip Elliott reported, Ted’s facing an uphill battle in Indiana, a pivotal state in the Republican establishment’s effort to stop Trump:
If polls are correct, Cruz is on the verge of his own spanking that might force him from the race. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal released earlier Sunday found Cruz chasing Trump in Indiana by 15 percentage points. (Cruz aides dispute those figures, but acknowledge their own polling shows the Texan trailing in Indiana, especially after a five-state route in the Northeast on April 19.)
Watch the full video of the confrontation on CBS News.
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