Donald Trump says he is a "unifier" after Super Tuesday success
After winning at least five states on Super Tuesday, Donald Trump proclaimed himself a "unifier" who can bring the Republican Party together.
"I am a unifier. I know people are going to find that a bit hard to believe but believe me, I am a unifier" the businessman declared at a press conference in his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. "I think we're going to be more inclusive, I think we're going to be more unified, and I think we're going to win in November."
He pointed to the high turnout on the Republican side, saying that the Republican Party is expanding in a way it hasn't done in decades.
That was also the message from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently endorsed Trump and introduced him at the press conference, though he seemed rather subdued.
"Tonight is the beginning of Donald Trump bringing the Republican Party together for a big victory this November," he said.
Trump congratulated rival Ted Cruz for his victory in Texas, but mocked Marco Rubio for failing to win a single state so far. He blamed it on Rubio's negative attacks in the past few days.
"I always liked Marco until about a week ago when he decided to go hostile," Trump said. "He decided to become Don Rickles, but Don has a lot more talent." [Editor's note: It was later determined that Rubio had won the Minnesota caucuses]
Trump spoke like someone who has already won the Republican nomination, predicting an "easy race" against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and saying that he would be "having a celebration" if the delegates had been allocated in a winner-take-all fashion.
"Once we get all of this finished I'm going to go after Hillary Clinton, on the assumption she's allowed to run, which is a big assumption," he said.
Weighing in on some of the current news stories, Trump predicted that the other Republicans would "lose everything" if they tried to run a third-party conservative candidate against him and once again disavowed the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, which he stumbled over on Sunday.
"How many times are you supposed to disavow?" he mused. "But I disavow and hopefully it's the final time I have to do it."
Despite his talk of unity, Trump issued an odd threat against House Speaker Paul Ryan when he talked about his ability to work with Congress.
"Paul Ryan, I don't know him well but I'm sure I'm going to get along with him, and if I don't, he's going to have to pay a big price, okay?" Trump said.