Spotlight: Trump calls for party unity after sweeping victories, adversity remains

Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday called for unified support within the party after sweeping victories in crucial presidential nomination contests.

However, despite his delegate lead, Trump's appeal to his rivals' supporters would likely fall on deaf ears and the GOP nomination process in this election cycle could continue to drag on.

Trump scored at least three victories in Tuesday's primaries with the Missouri primary too close to call as of early Wednesday morning, making it an uphill battle for the other candidates to garner the majority of total delegates required to win their party's presidential nomination.

The biggest prize for Trump was the winner-take-all Florida primary, in which the New York billionaire developer pocketed 99 delegates, delivering a fatal blow to Florida Senator Marco Rubio who suspended his campaign Tuesday night.

The commanding victory for Trump in Florida was the first part of his campaign plan to seal his nomination.

But Trump lost Ohio to its governor John Kasich. The state is also a crucial winner-take-all primary with 66 delegates at stake.

To win the Republican nomination, a candidate must win at least 1,237 delegates.

Trump now led the race for delegates with a total of 619 in Tuesday's contests, trailed by Ted Cruz with 394.

With about 1,000 delegates left for grab after Tuesday, Trump would need to win about six in 10 to notch the nomination before the GOP convention. Cruz would need to win about eight in 10, and Kasich couldn't reach a convention majority even if he won every single delegate from now on.

Trump could nab the most delegates come the Republican convention in July but still fall short of acquiring the crucial threshold 50% of all delegates.

Speaking at a rally Tuesday night in Florida, Trump told supporters that the time had come for party unity.

"The fact is we have to bring our party together," said Trump, adding that his candidacy had drawn in many people who hadn't voted before.

The results on Tuesday came at a time when Trump was widely questioned as to whether he was doing enough to stem violence at his rallies in the wake of confrontation between Trump supporters and protesters at a rally in Chicago on Friday.

During his farewell speech on Tuesday, Rubio took one last shot at Trump.

"I ask the American people - do not give into the fear, do not give in to the frustration," said Rubio, referring to Trump's past controversial remarks about illegal immigrants and Muslims, which seemed to resonate with the electorate in this chaotic election cycle.

"We can disagree about public policy. We can disagree vibrantly and passionately. But we are a hopeful people," said Rubio.

Trump drew widespread criticism last June when he said in his presidential announcement speech that Mexico was sending "rapists" and drug dealers to the United States. Since then, the billionaire had repeatedly vowed to deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants if elected.

In another outburst of emotional remarks, Trump called for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks last year.

Around the country, Trump's campaign team even started teaching supporters how to handle possible confrontation with protesters who did not see eye to eye with Trump's anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim remarks.

"If a protester starts demonstrating in the area around you, please do not touch or harm the protester," said a scripted message that precedes all Trump allies. "Please hold a rally sign over your head and start chanting 'Trump! Trump! Trump!'"

However, the past two weeks had witnessed escalating violence, which culminated with a tense confrontation between Trump's supporters and protesters after the Trump campaign canceled a rally in Chicago on Friday.

After Friday's incident, Trump's rivals, both Republicans and Democrats, lined up to throw jabs at the belligerent Republican presidential front-runner who had since Day One of his candidacy unleashed the pent-up fury of economically displaced working-class white Americans.

With the possibility of Trump winning the GOP nomination looming large, resistance from the rank-and-file Republicans appears to have intensified.

According to an exit poll conducted by NBC News on Tuesday, more than a third of Republican primary voters said they would consider a third-party candidate if faced with a general election matchup between Clinton and Trump. Endi