– ‘Will not be bullied’ –
It was the latest example of behaviour that may compound Trump’s efforts to win over sceptical voters. Martinez is seen as someone who could help a Republican nominee win support from Hispanics and women – on her home turf, saying she was not cutting it as governor.
Martinez’s office responded swiftly, saying the governor “will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans.”
The blunt response highlights the tensions within the party even as it prepares to crown Trump as its nominee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan – the nation’s top elected Republican – said he was not yet prepared to endorse Trump for president.
“I haven’t made a decision,” Ryan told reporters, two weeks after he met with Trump to discuss ways to unify the party behind his remarkable White House run.
Former House majority leader Tom DeLay had choice words for the presumptive nominee, calling Trump’s criticism of a popular conservative Latina “stupid politics.”
“It blows my mind,” DeLay told MSNBC. “Where is he going to get his coalition to win?”
Following his Washington state victory, Trump has now amassed 1,229 delegates, according to a CNN tally – just eight shy of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination.
He is expected to cross the threshold June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary contest.
Trump pivoted to the general election weeks ago, relentlessly criticizing his likely Democratic rival.
The former secretary of state has returned fire, although she is still engaged in the final stages of her Democratic battle against Sanders.
On Wednesday, the scandal over her use of a private email server while secretary of state resurfaced, with a starkly critical report by the State Department’s inspector general finding she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.
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