Trump: I consider myself the presumptive nominee

Donald Trump said he sees himself as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee in a victory speech Tuesday night from New York City. 

“I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely,” he said at a press conference following his victories in five primaries on the East Coast.

“Sen. Cruz and Gov. Kasich should really get out of the race; they have no path to victory and honestly they should get out of the race. We should heal the Republican party, bring the Republican Party back together,” Trump said.

{mosads}Trump swept rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich in all five states holding primary elections on Tuesday: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and Maryland. He’s also poised to eclipse 60 percent in many of those states, a much higher percentage of the vote than some critics thought he could ever win.

“When you crack 60, as we did with our great city and state of New York, when you crack 60 with three people, that’s pretty hard to do,” he said. 

He nodded at former GOP rival turned supporter Chris Christie who stood to his right as he declared victory. 

Trump also lambasted his rivals remaining rivals for their recent decision to team up and clear the field for Cruz in next week’s Indiana primary in the hopes of denying Trump the majority of delegates. 

“I said I think that’s a good thing because it shows weakness, it shows ineffectiveness, it shows failing campaigns, it shows collusion. In business, they put you in jail for collusion, in politics, you are able to get away with it,” he said. 

“I think that Gov. Kasich and Sen. Cruz have really hurt themselves with a faulty deal that was defaulted on before they even started,” he added, noting that Kasich has refused to marshal his supporters to Cruz.