Rep. Smith says he will support Trump if he is GOP nominee

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., said he will support Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican Party's nominee for president.

The 8th District congressman said he hopes party members will unite behind whomever is the GOP's standard-bearer.

"The sooner our party unites, the better," he said Friday.

Smith had supported Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for president. But after losing his home state's primary to Trump last week, Rubio suspended his campaign.

The Republican congressman said he won't take sides when it comes to the three remaining GOP candidates: Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

"I have no intention of endorsing any of the three that are left," Smith said.

Smith decried discussions by conservative leaders to block Trump's nomination any way possible.

"This discussion is not good for our country," he said. Republicans should accept the will of the voters rather than stand in the way "because voters decided in a way you don't agree with."

Some party leaders even have suggested the possibility of a third-party candidacy if Trump wins the nomination.

"It is ridiculous," the congressman said, adding such a candidacy would only help to elect another Democrat to the White House in November.

Smith compared the current GOP situation to a family feud.

"I think some people get more passionate about fighting with the family than with someone outside the family," he said.

Trump has won primaries in a number of states, including Missouri. Smith said voters "spoke loud and clear in Missouri on Tuesday."

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination. Party leaders generally concede it now is a two-man race between Trump and Cruz.

Smith said he hopes the contest will be settled before this summer's party convention. If not, it will be a brokered convention, where it will take a coalition of delegates for a candidate to secure the nomination.

But the congressman said a brokered convention would not be a disaster. He said the party has experienced several brokered conventions over the years, including 1976 when Gerald Ford secured the nomination over Ronald Reagan and in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln was chosen as the standard-bearer.

The Republican Party needs to focus on "stopping Hillary and Bernie," he said, referring to Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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