McCain sees problems with his re-election with Trump as GOP candidate

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John McCain told supporters in Arizona last month that having Donald Trump on the Republican presidential ticket would hurt his own re-election bid in Arizona, a state with a large Hispanic population, Politico reported on Thursday.

“If Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona, with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life,” McCain said, according to a recording of the event obtained by the news outlet.

Trump has alienated many Hispanics with his harsh rhetoric on immigration, including vowing to build a wall at the U.S. border with Mexico and calling some immigrants rapists. McCain was the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nominee.

McCain has said he would support the eventual nominee, “who is now presumptively Donald Trump,” said McCain’s Senate campaign spokeswoman, Lorna Romero.

Republican lawmakers, operatives and donors grappled with whether to support Donald Trump, who effectively clinched his party’s presidential nomination this week after his two remaining rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, dropped out of the White House race.

As Trump sought to rally the fractured party behind him, many prominent Republicans got behind the reality TV star and real estate developer, while some weighed their options. Still others said they might vote in the Nov. 8 general election for Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.

In most U.S. elections cycles, party insiders quickly coalesce around candidates once they have effectively sewn up the nomination. But Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, unorthodox campaign and his lack of experience in government have left the party divided.

The New York billionaire has vowed to deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along the Mexican border. He has also said he would temporarily bar Muslims from entering the country as a way to combat terrorism.

Republican former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush do not plan to endorse anyone in the White House race this year, their spokesmen told Reuters. The party’s presidential nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney, will not attend the Republican National Convention in July, an aide said. The former Massachusetts governor delivered a blistering attack on Trump in March.

On Wednesday, fresh off the win in Indiana’s primary that drove both his rivals out of the race, Trump pledged to unify the party and said he was getting calls from people who had criticized him in the past but who now wanted to back him.

Supporters of Trump, who has never held elective office, said he could ease concerns about his lack of experience by choosing a well-known running mate. Representatives Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee and Chris Collins of New York both suggested former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump told CNBC on Thursday there was a 40 percent chance his vice presidential pick would be a former Republican presidential rival.