Trump wants to break records with final primary elections

Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb.

Donald Trump seems more interested in running up the score than projecting unity.

The billionaire mogul on Friday urged his Nebraska supporters to help him break the record for most votes in a Republican primary by turning out to vote Tuesday, but made little mention of uniting the party behind him now that he’s his party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

“We have to go on Tuesday and vote because we’re looking to break the all-time record,” Trump said as he kicked off a rally in a private air hangar near the Omaha airport. “We want to create such a record like they haven’t had before.”

The request marked a change from Thursday night, when Trump told supporters in West Virginia to not bother casting primary ballots and to wait until the general election in November because he’d already effectively won the GOP presidential nomination.

Nebraska and West Virginia both have their primaries Tuesday.

Trump has been working behind the scenes to try to unite a fractured party behind his candidacy. But you never would have known it from the rally.

Instead of offering a look ahead, Trump spent 30 minutes talking about contests he’d already won, ticking them off one after the other. He also lashed out at two former Republican rivals, complaining about South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s renewed criticisms and slamming former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has been out of the race months. Both said Friday they won’t vote for Trump.

However, Trump did get a boost from former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, who said Friday he is throwing his support behind the party’s presumptive candidate.

The Trump campaign released a statement in which Dole says: “The voters of our country have turned out in record numbers to support Mr. Trump. It is important that their votes be honored.”

In the same release, Trump said the former Kansas senator “is a wonderful man, and it is a great honor to have his support.”