Indiana votes in primary as Republican war of words heats up – as it happened

That’s it for today’s daytime updates – thanks for joining us. Head over here to follow along as the results of the pivotal Indiana primary come in.

Ted Cruz wasn’t the only person insulted when Donald Trump floated the apparent conspiracy theory that Rafael Cruz was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 - the Democratic National Committee is getting in on the “what the hell?” responses, too.

“While we’re on the subject of the GOP’s presumptive standard-bearer just spouting nonsense he reads on the Internet or in the tabloids, here are some of the other conspiracy theories that Donald Trump’s ‘good brain’ felt it was necessary to entertain,” the DNC stated in a release. “The fact that he has even considered any of these theories proves that once again, ‘Dangerous Donald’ lacks the judgment and temperament to serve as president.”

Citing Trump’s longstanding birtherism, his floating of the idea that Antonin Scalia was murdered to remove him from the supreme court and acceptance of the notion that vaccines might cause autism, the DNC said that at this rate, Trump might soon question whether the Earth is flat.

“So if we’re to believe the Internet, we’re still waiting on Trump to address these other pressing issues of our time.”

3 May 201614.51 EDT

Uki Goñi

When Donald Trump warns that the United States is threatened by a marauding wave of pitiless Latin Americans, he may well be right.

At least, that’s the message of a viral advert for the upcoming 2016 Copa América, which has been released by an Argentinian TV channel.

The advert for the special 100-year anniversary edition of the soccer tournament, to be held in the US, intercuts extracts from Trump’s infamous “wall” speech with footage of Argentina’s national team.

“These are total killers,” says Trump, as the video shows Ángel Di María lashing the ball into the back of the net.

As Trump continues, “these are not the nice, sweet little people that you think,” the video cuts to a closeup of Barcelona wizard Lionel Messi giving a menacing sneer to his opponents.

In a powerful send-up of his proposed measures to exclude migrants, Trump’s rhetoric is dubbed over footage of an unstoppable football team – and their devoted fans.

Mark Salter, John McCain’s former chief of staff and a longtime member of the Republican party, is officially choosing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump:

When Barack Obama meets her on Wednesday in the city of Flint, Michigan, Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny has an agenda.

“I’m gonna give him a big hug and say what more can I do to help?” Copeny said on Monday.

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In March, Copeny – known around the Rust Belt city as “Little Miss Flint” – sought a few minutes of Obama’s time, as she was headed to Washington DC by bus for a congressional hearing about her hometown’s two-year water crisis. The hearing featured testimony from the Michigan governor, Rick Snyder, on his administration’s response to the city’s lead contamination problem.

“My mom said chances are you will be too busy with more important things,” Mari wrote at the time, “but there is a lot of people coming on these buses and even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits.”

There wasn’t an immediate reply. But that changed last week, when Mari’s mother, Loui “Lulu” Brezzell, received a call, notifying her that Obama was so moved by her daughter’s letter that he planned to pen a personal response. The next day, Brezzell received a follow-up call: actually, the president was headed to Michigan – and he wanted to meet Mari.

Now, Little Miss Flint is the busiest third-grader in town: on Monday alone, she handled interview requests from more than a half dozen news outlets ahead of Obama’s visit, and even met with Flint’s congressional representative, Dan Kildee.

“I’m excited,” she said, as laconically as one would expect of an eight-year-old who spent a day running around town in meetings.

3 May 201613.35 EDT

Lauren Gambino

In honor of voting day in Indiana, Hillary Clinton wonders what kind of president Pawnee’s most dedicated public servant, Leslie Knope, would be?

Lil’ Sebastian in the Rose Garden? Binders in the Oval office? State dinners hosted by JJ’s Diner?

In the video releasedby the Clinton campaign, actress Amy Poehler, who played Knope, the eager and incredibly well-organized bureaucrat heroine of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, has her doubts about elevating the Pawnee native to the highest office.

“On my god, she would run out of gas really fast,” said Poehler, who is is jokingly captioned as “mayor of Pawnee, IN,” the fictional town where the show is set.

“She’d go full speed ahead. She’d make a lot of change really fast and then would have to take, like, a month nap,” Poehler said.

Clinton was apparently a fan of the sitcom, which went off the air after seven seasons in 2015. In the trove of correspondence released by the State Department, one email to an aide requested help find the showtime for Parks and Recreation.

It’s no surprise the Democratic frontrunner, then US Secretary of State, would be a fan.

On the show, Knope praised Clinton as the “the strongest, smartest punching bag in the world” and kept a framed photograph of her, along with one of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her office at the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Though Clinton doesn’t ask, it’s probably safe to assume she has Knope’s vote.

Donald Trump’s campaign has responded to what it has called Ted Cruz’s “latest outburst” regarding his history with women and “pathological” lying:

Ted Cruz is a desperate candidate trying to save his failing campaign. It is no surprise he has resorted to his usual tactics of over-the-top rhetoric that nobody believes. Over the last week, I have watched Lyin’ Ted become more and more unhinged as he is unable to react under the pressure and stress of losing, in all cases by landslides, the last six primary elections - in fact, coming in last place in all but one of them. Today’s ridiculous outburst only proves what I have been saying for a long time, that Ted Cruz does not have the temperament to be president of the United States.

It has to be seen to be believed.

Some highlights:

• “This is nuts. This is not a reasonable position - this is just kooky.”
• “Yes, my dad killed JFK, he is secretly Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa is buried in his backyard.”
• “This man is a pathological liar. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies.”
• “A narcissist at a level I don’t think this country has ever seen. Donald Trump is such a narcissist that Barack Obama looks at him and says, ‘Dude, what’s your problem?’”
• “If you hooked him up to a lie detector test, he could say one thing in the morning, one thing at noon, and one thing in the evening - all contradictory - and he’d pass the lie detector test. Whatever lie he’s telling, in that minute, he believes it.”
• “The man is utterly immoral. Morality does not exist for him.”
• “Donald will betray his supporters on every issue.”
• “Donald has a real problem with women.”
• “Donald Trump is a serial philanderer - and he boasts about it! This is not a secret; he’s proud of being a serial philanderer.”
• “Describes his battles with venereal disease as his own personal Vietnam.”
• “That is not who America is, and I would say to the Hoosier State: The entire country is depending on you.”

When it rains, it pours.

Former Texas congressman and onetime Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told CNN this morning that he wouldn’t vote for Texas senator Ted Cruz because he “overemphasizes his religion.”

“No, no,” Paul said, when asked whether he would vote for Cruz if he won the Republican nomination. “He’s way too authoritarian. I think he’s somebody who overemphasizes his religion.

“We want people to have sound ethical and moral and religious beliefs, but we don’t want them to impose that or think that’s the government’s role,” Paul added. “I see him more as a theocrat. I think theocracy’s very, very dangerous.”

But Donald Trump shouldn’t be expecting an endorsement from the libertarian stalwart anytime soon - Paul also said that he would not vote for Trump. “I wouldn’t vote for him, because I see him as a very, very strong authoritarian,” Paul said. “If he were strong in defending free market economics and sound monetary policy and cutting spending and not massively increasing military spending... I think he’s misdirecting people.”

If the race ends up being between Hillary Clinton and Trump, Paul said, “I’ll cast a vote - but not for either one of them.” “

Ted Cruz went full Frank Grimes in his latest presser ahead of the Indiana Republican primary - maybe because he saw the latest national polling numbers out from NBC News.

Billionaire Republican frontrunner and assassination conspiracy theorist Donald Trump has hit a new polling high, with the support of 56% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters in the latest NBC News/Survey Monkey survey released this morning. Cruz, whose campaign is reportedly preparing to downsize in the wake of an expected loss in the Hoosier State, is at 22%, with Ohio governor John Kasich at 14%.

Trump is six points higher than he was in the same poll three weeks ago, with Cruz falling four points and Kasich falling three.

3 May 201611.50 EDT

Ted Cruz: Donald Trump is an "amoral pathological liar" and a "serial philanderer"

Scott Bixby

In a blistering press conference in Indiana, Texas senator Ted Cruz threw the kitchen sink at opponent Donald Trump, calling the billionaire Republican frontrunner “amoral,” a “narcissist,” and a “pathological liar” whose battles against venereal disease and serial philandering should preclude him from the presidency.

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Hours after Trump pondered whether Cruz’s father was an associate of the man who assassinated John F. Kennedy, Cruz called Trump a “pathological liar” and a “serial philanderer - and he boasts about it!”

“He describes his battle with venereal disease as his own Vietnam!” Cruz said. “Think about the next five years if this man were to become the next president. Think about your kids coming back and emulating this. For people in Indiana, who long for a day when we were nice to each other, when we treated people with respect...”

“It is only Indiana that can pull us back,” Cruz said, who said that if Hoosiers fail to vote for him, “we are staring at the abyss.”

He still refused, however, to say that he won’t support Trump if he is the Republican nominee.

The presser comes on the heels of news from the Associated Press that, with polls showing his campaign likely set to lose Indiana, Cruz campaign officials are preparing for, “at a minimum,” immediate staffing cuts.

3 May 201611.31 EDT

Poll: Democrats want Bernie Sanders to stay in the race

Scott Bixby

Good news for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders: Although his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination may be on the rocks, a majority of Democratic voters say that he should stay in the race through the party’s convention in Philadelphia.

That’s according to a new survey of Democrats out today from NBC News, which found that 57% of Democrats say that Sanders should stay in the race until the convention in July. Only one in four Democrats told surveyers that he should drop out after the final Democratic primaries on June 7, and a mere 16% said that he should drop out now.

Ted Cruz spokesperson Alice Stewart has released a statement about Donald Trump’s declaration this morning that Cruz’s father was linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy:

It’s embarrassing that anyone would enable Trump to discuss this. It’s a garbage story and clearly Donald wants to talk about garbage. Ted Cruz will do what he’s been doing, talking about Jobs, Freedom, and Security for the American people.

She did not respond to the Guardian’s question regarding whether the Texas senator believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Billionaire Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has linked opponent Ted Cruz’s father to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated John F. Kennedy.

During a phoner with Fox New breakfast television show Fox & Friends, Trump mentioned a story in noted tabloid publication National Enquirer that claimed that Rafael Cruz, a pastor and father of the Texas senator, was with Oswald before he shot Kennedy from the sixth-floor window of a book depository in Dallas, Texas in 1963. The story was backed up by what the tabloid described as photos of Cruz handing out leaflets with Oswald months before the Kennedy assassination.

“His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald being shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous,” Trump said. “Nobody even brings it up, they don’t even talk about that.”

“What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death, before the shooting?” Trump asked, apparently rhetorically.

The Cruz campaign has called Trump’s allegations “detached from reality.”

In an increasingly hostile election season in which many US Muslims have taken to the streets to rally against Donald Trump, Muslim Republican leaders have their work cut out for them to keep voters loyal.

In this second episode of Who’s God’s Candidate?, BRIC-TV chief correspondent Brian Vines talks to Republican and Democratic Muslims alike and asks how their faith helps them determine their vote.

Texas senator Ted Cruz’s decision to name former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his subjunctive running mate hasn’t made the splash he was hoping for, according to a new poll.

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According to the survey of Republican voters from Morning Consult, 60% of Republican voters say that the addition of Fiorina to the ticket has “no impact” on their vote. A full 22% say that they’re actually less likely to vote for Cruz because of his decision to name a running mate before he’s even earned half the necessary delegates to win the Republican nomination.

Only 18% told Morning Consult that the addition of Fiorina to the hypothetical ticket makes them “more likely” to cast ballots for the Texas senator.

Part of the problem: A surprising number of voters have totally forgotten about the onetime presidential candidate. More than a third of Republicans said that they have either never heard of Fiorina or have no opinion, positive or negative, of her. Of those who do have an opinion, the majority view her negatively, with 39% viewing her as such and only 25% viewing her positively.

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s politics liveblog, where today all eyes are trained on Indiana, whose voters hold the hopes and fears of pro- and anti-Trump Republicans in the balance.

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The Hoosier State, typically an also-voted primary state, has turned into Ted Cruz’s last, best hope of derailing the Trump Train – as well as presenting a tight contest between Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who are neck and neck in the most recent polling. With the second-richest delegate count remaining in both parties’ races, Indiana may be the kingmaker in the nominating contests.

Here’s quick rundown of what’s set to happen today:

• Voting in both primaries will close at 6pm ET in 80 of Indiana’s 92 counties and at 7pm ET in the remaining counties. (Indiana is bifurcated into two different time zones, because America often makes little sense.) With the majority of the state’s ballots already in the counting process by the closure of the last polls, we can expect a quick turnaround.
• According to the Associated Press, half of Indiana’s primary votes had been tabulated within an hour of the last poll’s closure, with 95% of the vote in by 10pm.
• If Trump wins the 30 delegates that Indiana awards the winner of the state’s popular vote (the winners in each of the state’s nine congressional districts receive three delegates apiece), only a massive upset by Cruz in California could stop him obtaining the 1,237 pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from winning on the first ballot, and is hoping for a contested convention.

• On the Democratic side, Indiana won’t put the nomination explicitly out of reach of either candidate, but appears less than likely to change the current state of the race. With 83 delegates up for grabs it’s the second largest haul remaining on the primary calendar, but with Clinton a mere 218 delegates short of the 2,383 she needs to claim the nomination (superdelegates included), even adding all 83 to Sanders’ column is unlikely to shift the dynamics of the race.

The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs is in Indiana today, and Ed Pilkington will be live at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan tonight.

On to the race!