Candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepared on Sunday to a new crucial round of presidential primaries. On Tuesday, Americans will vote in five Northeastern states, including Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware.

The Grand Old Party front-runner Donald Trump said on Saturday he had a “great day campaigning in Connecticut”. He later added he was heading to Maryland on Sunday. By contrast, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz abandoned the five states he previously visited and started his campaign in Indiana, which votes on May 3.

Candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepared on Sunday to a new crucial round of presidential primaries. Photo credit: CNN
Candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepared on Sunday to a new crucial round of presidential primaries. Photo credit: CNN

On the other hand, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gathered with thousands of voters in Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country. This week, he said he had no intentions to drop the race after Clinton prevailed in all five New York boroughs.

“If Secretary Clinton is the nominee — and we’re not giving this thing up, we’re going all the way to California — but if she is the nominee, I would hope that she puts together the strongest progressive agenda,” Sanders said on ABC’s “This Week” before heading to voters in Providence, capital city of Rhode Island.

Clinton has made no mention about Sanders, her main target appears to be Donald Trump

Clinton, who has been conducting a discrediting campaign against Donald Trump in Social Networks, expects that primary elections in the five states mark a “turning point” in her path to be the Democratic nominee. If she wins four or five states on Tuesday, she could gain a relevant advantage against Sanders.

The former secretary of state visited on Sunday morning the Philadelphia church service, which is mostly attended by African-Americans, in the context of the Pennsylvania primaries, which is the most important state of Tuesday’s elections, when considering population.

Clinton has avoided attacks towards Sen. Sanders and has focused on criticizing GOP front-runner Trump. She said that “rhetoric from Trump and Cruz is “not only offensive”, but also dangerous, adding that they are are “denying the fundamental tenets of democracy”.

Her Tuesday triumph in New York has put her a few steps closer to obtaining the necessary amount of delegates needed to secure the nomination. The five states that will vote this week offer 384 delegates when counted together, said The Washington Post. If she continues winning the Democratic primaries, she would only need about 200 delegates in the coming weeks.

By contrast, Polls predict that Trump could considerably surpass Cruz and the Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Texas Sen. did not refer to the Tuesday’s elections when he was campaigning on Sunday in Indiana. Instead, he said Trump’s campaign was based on “yelling, screaming, cursing and insulting”.

Source: The Washington Post