Ben Carson's former campaign manager thinks Donald Trump is a lock for the GOP nomination

Donald Trump takes a convincing lead in the republican candidate race. — (Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ben Carson's campaign manager, Barry Bennett, quit Carson's campaign on the last day of 2015, citing problems with another adviser. No longer officially tied to Carson, Bennett confessed on Wednesday that he could hardly imagine a situation in which Donald Trump did not end up with the Republican nomination.

"By the middle of March, this thing could be well over. At this point, it's getting harder and harder to see how Donald Trump isn't our nominee," Bennett said on CNN. "I'm a realist and I believe in data, I believe in polls, and I have not seen a plan out there that is going to take down Donald Trump quite yet."

When CNN's Kate Bolduan asked who impressed Bennett the most of all the candidates, Bennett said you had to look at the rallies: "Donald Trump is shoving ten, twelve thousand people at rallies and a lot of these guys are having five or six people show up at their events in Iowa. There's just not a comparison. The establishment can fret about it all they want, but this is the new reality," Bennett said.

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But when it comes to who's the best man for the job, Bennett would only say his former employer "has the best head and the best heart."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.