Mitt Romney has clinched his Republican party’s White House nomination by winning its Texas primary, vowing to get America “back on the path to prosperity” by defeating Barack Obama in November.
I have no illusion about the difficulties of the task before us
But Tuesday’s milestone was clouded by a revived controversy over claims by billionaire tycoon Donald Trump, a high-profile Romney supporter, questioning where Mr Obama was born, and therefore his right to be President.
“I am honoured that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy and I am humbled to have won enough delegates to become the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee,” Mr Romney said.
“I have no illusions about the difficulties of the task before us. But whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to full employment and prosperity.”
Mr Romney, the only candidate who actively campaigned in Texas, won 69 per cent of the vote, against 12 per cent for Ron Paul, eight per cent for Rick Santorum and five per cent for Newt Gingrich, according to CNN, with 99 per cent of votes counted.
Texas, the second most populous US state, had 155 delegates up for grabs which – added to former Massachusetts governor’s tally of 1,064 – takes him well over the nomination threshold of 1,144 delegates.
But while Mr Romney celebrated confirmation that he will take on Mr Obama in November 6 polls, the campaign risked veering off message due to interventions by flamboyant real estate tycoon Mr Trump, who endorsed the candidate in February.
Mr Trump – with whom Mr Romney attended a fundraiser in Las Vegas as the Texas results came in late on Tuesday, spent much of the day insisting there were still lingering doubts about whether Mr Obama was really a natural born US citizen.
“Nothing has changed my mind,” he told CNBC about the so-called “birther” issue, adding: “There are some major questions here and the press doesn’t want to cover it.”
That provided an opening for Mr Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to slam Mr Romney for lacking “moral leadership” over his appearance with Mr Trump.
“If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he’s so concerned about lining his campaign’s pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be?” she said.
Mr Romney’s campaign was forced into awkward damage control hours before the two men appeared together, with spokeswoman Andrea Saul saying Mr Romney “has said repeatedly that he believes President Obama was born in the United States.
“The Democrats can talk about Donald Trump all they want – Mitt Romney is going to talk about jobs and how we can get our economy moving again.”
Both Mr Trump and Mr Romney avoided commenting on the birther row at Tuesday evening’s fundraiser at the tycoon’s Vegas hotel-casino, which was reportedly expected to generate $2 million (€1.6 million) for the candidate’s campaign.
Mr Romney, 65, pivoted towards Mr Obama in his campaign speeches and events more than a month ago, when it became clear his long march towards the nomination at the party convention in August would not be stopped.