Rudy Giuliani: Between Trump and Cruz, ‘I’d Vote for Trump’

Former New York Mayor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who hasn’t yet endorsed a candidate, said if it came down to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump versus Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), he would vote for Trump.

“If it came down to Trump or Cruz, there is no question I’d vote for Trump,” Giuliani, who was mayor during the 9-11 terrorist attack, said.  “As a party, we’d have a better chance of winning with him, and I think a lot of Republicans look at it that way.”

The statement comes as The Washington Post is reporting that the GOP establishment is “learning to live with” the fact that Trump is likely to become the Republican Party’s nominee and even seeing “an upside to Trump as the nominee.”

“This warming toward Trump comes after establishment favorites such as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida governor Jeb Bush have failed to reach the top tier,” reports The Washington Post’s Robert Costa, Philip Rucker, and David Fahrenthold.

“Between Trump and Cruz, it’s not even close,” Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said discussing the two candidates, but not yet endorsing anyone. “Cruz isn’t a good guy, and he’d be impossible as president. People don’t trust him. And regardless of what your concern is with Trump, he’s pragmatic enough to get something done. I also don’t see malice in Trump like I see with Cruz.”

The Post reports:

Many have decided that Trump — for all his faults — is better. For one thing, many Republicans in Congress especially despise Cruz, who has a history of picking long-shot fights and blaming other Republicans when he is unsuccessful.

Beyond that personal hostility, there’s a political calculation. If Cruz is nominated, they say, he could alienate swing voters with his brand of scorched-earth conservatism. If he’s elected, they fear, Cruz would shut Republican moderates out of power.

The Post goes on to note that many in the Republican Party still refuse to choose between Trump and Cruz, saying both “would be a disaster as a nominee.”