Donald Trump Hits The Magic Delegate Number

On Thursday, the AP reported that Donald Trump hit enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination. A Republican presidential candidate needs 1,237 delegates to snag the party's nomination, and Trump can now claim 1,238. According to the AP, Trump hit the necessary number of delegates to clinch the party's nomination thanks to a small group of unbound Republican delegates who said they would back him at the convention in Cleveland this July.

The AP interviewed some of the unbound delegates who confirmed they were supporting him for the nomination. "I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn't like where our country is," Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard told the AP. "I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump." Colorado Republican Party Chairman Steve House said, "If he [Trump] can surround himself with the political talent, I think he will be fine."

Under a year ago, the prospect of Trump becoming the GOP presidential nominee seemed all but improbable. The sagacious Nate Silver predicted in August that Trump had a 2 percent chance of winning the Republican nomination. Analysts far less intelligent than he also believed that Trump was a long shot. However, time and again, the reality TV business mogul defied the odds, handily crushing the anti-Trump efforts from some in the Republican establishment. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus declared Trump the party's "presumptive nominee."