Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday he is “the one” to beat Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, pushing back against party leaders reportedly looking to block his path to the presidential nomination, AFP reported.
The push to stop Trump comes as he finds himself at the center of a firestorm over his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Republican powerbrokers argued at a recent dinner that the party should plan to coalesce around an alternative at the nominating convention if Trump storms through the primaries.
Trump fired back at the plan on Sunday, telling Fox News, "I think they're making a big mistake. I think I'm the one to beat Hillary."
"I'm sorry I did this to you, but you've got to get used to it. It's one of the problems in life," was his message to the Republicans.
Meanwhile, a new poll released on Sunday found that Republicans in Iowa, a major swing state, have chosen Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) over Trump.
31% of respondents preferred Cruz, vs. just 21% who would vote for Trump, the poll revealed.
Trump's response to the Cruz challenge was that the Texas senator lacked the temperament and judgment to be president.
"The way he's dealt with the Senate, where he goes in frankly like a bit of a maniac. You never get things done that way," he said, according to AFP.
"You can't walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people. He'll never get anything done. That's the problem with Ted," added Trump.
He defended his call for a ban on Muslim entry to the United States, which caused a firestorm, insisting Muslims should be kept from entering the United States "until we get our hands around this problem."
"There's a sickness. They're sick people. There's a sickness going on. There's a group of people who are very sick. We have to figure out the answer. The Muslims can help us figure out the answer," he was quoted as having said on Fox News Sunday.