Ted Cruz says he'll 'welcome' Marco Rubio supporters to his campaign 'with open arms'

Ted Cruz told supporters Tuesday night that starting Wednesday, "every Republican has a clear choice" when it comes to selecting a presidential nominee.

"Only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination," he said. "Ours, and Donald Trump's. Nobody else has any mathematical possibility whatsoever." Trump won Illinois, Florida, and North Carolina on Tuesday, while John Kasich won Ohio, but Cruz said he's the "only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over and over again, not once, not twice, not three times, but nine times all across the country, from Alaska to Maine." The choice, he added, is straightforward. "Do you want a candidate that shares your values, or a candidate that has spent decades opposing your values?" he asked.

Cruz also called Marco Rubio, who dropped out of the race earlier in the evening, an inspiration, and said he ran a "tremendous campaign." He told Rubio's supporters who "worked so hard" that he welcomes them with "open arms, with gratitude and hope and a positive vision for this great nation."

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