Racial feud erupts as Republicans fight ‘unstoppable’ Trump

He trails Trump in virtually all of the 11 states holding nominating contests on March 1, known as Super Tuesday.

Assuming Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton keep their momentum through Super Tuesday and beyond, it’s unlikely California’s June 7 primary election will play a major role in choosing the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, political observers say.

Clinton’s huge margin among African-American voters, who turned out in a higher percentage in SC than in 2008, was an encouraging sign to her aides, who are eager to expand their lead among the delegates that will decide the primary race. The most recent offering arrived earlier this year, before his decision to go after the Republican presidential nomination.

The Florida senator has not won a single state, but he earned rave reviews and heavy coverage this week for a Trump-mocking debate performance. The Vermont Senator is favored to carry his home state and is enjoying a surprise boost in Oklahoma, but Clinton is considered the overwhelming favorite to triumph elsewhere.

Trump was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether he rejected support from the former KKK Grand Dragon and other white supremacists after Duke told his radio followers this week that a vote against Trump was equivalent to “treason to your heritage”. “We are going to have a very good Super Tuesday”, he said, before virtually begging the room to help build turnout among his supporters in Texas and beyond.

“I don’t care how bad the earpiece is, Ku Klux Klan comes through pretty clearly”, Rubio said during a rally in Tennessee Monday. “How many times do I have to continue to disavow people?” he said. “That’s why I think he’s going to carry the day”.

On Monday, when his speech was interrupted by a nearby plane, Rubio took the opportunity to mock Trump’s hair.

Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric during the campaign, accusing Mexico of sending “rapists” and criminals across the border and urging a ban on Muslims entering the country, would have been the undoing of a normal candidate.

“You’re better than this”, Cruz wrote on Twitter.

In a freakish rant, Senator Rubio said: “You know what they say about men with small hands, you can’t trust them!” Then he looked in front of the stage and asked a woman, “You have a problem?”

Mr Trump has support from a stunning 49 percent of Republicans, more than his four remaining rivals combined, and destroying any notion he has a ceiling of 35 percent or so. Ted Cruz (12 percent). As for Marco Rubio, it’s unclear where he can win.

The Lone Star State is the largest prize Tuesday, and Cruz is banking on winning there. Sanders and Clinton are facing off for 865 of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic race.

Virginians can start voting at 6 a.m., while Democrats and Republicans in Colorado won’t start caucusing until 9 p.m. Eastern time.

Democrats will award delegates in the same states as Republicans, apart from Alaska, and they are also competing in Colorado and in American Samoa.

On Super Tuesday, there are 595 Republican delegates (about 25 percent of the total number) available, and 1,004 Democrat delegates available.

If Mr Trump sweeps most of the states up for grabs, he could amass a delegate lead that would be hard for any rival to overcome.

In the latest controversy, Trump came under withering criticism from Republican and Democratic candidates alike for not immediately disavowing the support of David Duke, a white supremacist who once led the Ku Klux Klan.