The Republican presidential candidates did the delegate math during Thursday's debate in Florida — and Donald Trump and Ted Cruz made the case that they're the only ones with path to the GOP nomination.
"I think I'm going to have the delegates," Trump said. But he admitted that the Texas senator also could rack up the 1,237 delegates needed to win outright.
"There's two of us up here that can [win], and two of us that cannot at this moment," the businessman and front-runner said. "That's not meant to be a criticism, it's just a mathematical fact."
Trump called the 1,237 figure an "artificial, random number" — and said it's possible none of the candidates could reach it. In that situation, there would be a brokered GOP convention, where anyone could emerge the nominee.
Cruz argued that he has only 100 fewer delegates than Trump, making theirs a two-man race, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich left out.
"There are only two of us that have a path to winning the nomination, Donald and myself," Cruz said.
During the debate, search traffic for "delegate math" reached its historical peak, according to Google Trends.
Searches for "delegate math" are higher now than at any time in history #GOPDebate https://t.co/2HrOIYTdDI pic.twitter.com/xFLe45iaVQ
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends)March 11, 2016
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