Sen. Ted Cruz said Sunday his front-running GOP presidential rival Donald Trump may try to "encourage riots" at the party's convention in July.
In an interview on CBS's
"Face the Nation," the Texas lawmaker was asked if the nomination of another candidate besides Trump will spark confrontations at a contested convention.
"No, it won't, although Donald may do everything he can to encourage riots," Cruz said,
The Hill reports.
"The last contested convention we had in 1976, Ronald Reagan had a million more votes than Gerald Ford. But Gerald Ford got the votes of the majority of the delegates," Cruz said.
"If you look back to the very first Republican convention in 1860, our very first candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln, came into a contested convention, and he was second in the balloting. And on the third ballot, he won a majority. The test is to win a majority."
Cruz then repeated his oft-stated assertion that Trump "cannot win a majority."
"Majorities matter. And it's why Donald wants to change the rules and rig the system," he said.
Cruz and Trump are locked in a tight battle ahead of Tuesday’s Republican primary in Indiana, where the billionaire holds a 2-point lead, according to a
Real Clear Politics average of polls.
In the delegate count, Trump currently holds 996, while Cruz's number stands at 565. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a total of 153.
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