Blake Neff on May 3, 2016 at The Daily Caller News Foundation

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus declared Tuesday night Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is the “presumptive nominee” of the Republican Party, and said the GOP must unite behind him.

Priebus issued his declaration on Twitter, just minutes after Sen. Ted Cruz announced he was dropping out after a crushing defeat in the Indiana Republican primary.

Priebus’s declaration comes even though Ohio Gov. John Kasich remains officially in the race. Kasich has already been mathematically eliminated from clinching the nomination, but has refused to quit running.

The statement is also a rebuke of the “Never Trump” movement, consisting of several Republicans such as Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse who have declared they will not support Trump in a general election. Priebus tagged his own tweet “#NeverClinton,” signaling the party’s top priority should be preventing a Hillary Clinton presidency.

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