Karl Rove: GOP Contested Convention Will Bring 'a Lot of Hurt Feelings'

To win a first-ballot victory in this summer's Republican National Convention, Donald Trump will need to win nearly 60 percent of states' delegates from this point forward, and as he's been winning about 45 percent so far, Republican strategist Karl Rove said Wednesday, he is predicting a "lot of hurt feelings" when the balloting begins.

"It's unlikely that most of the Trump delegates, that very many of the Trump delegates are going to go for Ted Cruz, and it's very unlikely that virtually any of the Ted Cruz delegates are going to go for Donald Trump," Rove told Fox News' "Happening Now" program.

So that means delegates for other current and former candidates, like Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former candidate Marco Rubio will come into play, said Rove. Rubio has 107 delegates, while Kasich has just over 140, so "both of these guys are going to play key roles."

And after the first ballot, 57 percent of the delegates will no longer be bound, and after the second, 80 percent are no longer bound by state party or state law, so 'we're going to have some potential movement around there," said Rove.

What many people don't get, he continued, is that the candidates will "have to find a way to convince, persuade other people who have been for somebody else to be for you."

Further, Rove said he wonders if people believe the convention rules of 160 years that a majority of the delegates should be reached for the nomination to be awarded on a first ballot should be thrown out, as Trump's "forces are suggesting."

"If you ask voters, do you think the rules ought to be the majority required to stay in place, if you think the rules ought to be changed in the middle of the contest, I think you have an outcome that says maybe even reluctantly but don't change the rules in the middle the game so no matter what happens," said Rove. In all likelihood, the eventual nominee in Cleveland will have to have the ability to unify the party "because there's going to be a lot of hurt feelings."

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