Erick Erickson Demands Marco Rubio Drop Out Of The Presidential Race

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Radio host and Fox News contributor Erick Erickson demanded that Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) drop out of the race and “ally with” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to “save the party” and stop frontrunner Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination.

Erickson, who was one of the 22 conservative media figures included in a January National Review feature attacking Trump, proposed before the March 1 Super Tuesday primaries that the second and third-place finishers behind Trump should unite against him. Following the Super Tuesday results, Erickson joined other right-wing media figures calling for a “unity ticket,” with Rubio as Cruz's vice presidential pick.

In a March 8 blog post, Erickson wrote that those opposing Trump and supporting Rubio “are handing the nomination to Trump because they cannot face the reality of this election.” Erickson stated the “only way to stop Trump now is to ally with Ted Cruz” and said “Rubio needs to get out of the race now” to “save the party and nation”:

I helped launch the #NeverTrump movement with my piece written late two Friday's ago. That night it got over 60,000 hits and the #NeverTrump hashtag became a worldwide trend.

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What I am seeing at this point, however, is that #NeverTrump is guaranteeing Trump's nomination because #NeverTrump is really #NeverTed. Many of the most vocal supporters of the #NeverTrump movement are Marco Rubio supporters and they are handing the nomination to Trump because they cannot face the reality of this election.

The reality is pretty simple. In 20 races, Rubio has won 2 and one of those, Puerto Rico, gets no say in the electoral college. Trump has 384 delegates, Cruz has 300, and Rubio has 151. Kasich, for what it is worth, only has 37.

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The only way to stop Trump now is to ally with Ted Cruz. But too many of the #NeverTrump brigade are really #NeverTed. They don't want to look at the math, they don't want to look at the road ahead, they don't want Ted Cruz. They'd rather lose with Rubio and stay home in November than ally with Ted Cruz and even have a shot in November.

That is genuinely unfortunate and will either guarantee Trump is the nominee or guarantee the Republican Party is destroyed. Marco Rubio, a great man with a struggling campaign, has a cult of personality every bit as committed as Trump's. The difference is that Rubio's cult will give us Trump where Trump's cult alone never could.

Marco Rubio needs to get out of the race now to stop Trump and save the party and nation. That's just the cold, hard, unpleasant reality.