Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (left) for the first time Wednesday said he would support Donald Trump (right) if he becomes the Republican nominee for president. Credit: Wire photos

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It took a while for Gov. Scott Walker to commit, but he finally did on Wednesday.

Walker said he would support real estate mogul Donald Trump if he's the GOP presidential nominee -- though it's clear the governor's still hoping that doesn't happen. Trump scored a sweeping victory in Tuesday's New York primary.

"I will support the Republican running against (Democratic front-runner) Hillary Clinton in the fall -- whoever that is," Walker said at a news conference in Wauwatosa on Wednesday morning.

Even if Trump is the nominee?

"Yeah," Walker said, declining to say Trump's name. "To me, I think it's preferable to have a Republican nominee over Hillary Clinton. I think there's a lot of distress not only amongst Republicans and independents, but I think part of Bernie Sanders' support is because a lot of young voters, in particular, don't trust her."

Last fall, while he was still a presidential candidate, Walker had pledged to support the GOP nominee. But he has sidestepped the question when asked specifically whether he would back Trump if he wins the party's nomination.

"We're a long ways off from a nominee," Walker said on March 22. "Ask me that when we're closer to the convention."

On Wednesday, Walker made clear that he is still very much a big backer of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who finished a distant third in New York on Tuesday.

The second-term Republican governor had given a high-profile endorsement of Cruz and appeared in a TV ad for him shortly before the presidential primary on April 5. By contrast, Trump repeatedly attacked Walker, by calling into question the success of the governor's reform program. Trump also took credit for knocking Walker out of the presidential race, saying he sent the governor "packing like a little boy."

Cruz ended up easily defeating Trump in Wisconsin, something that anti-Trump forces hoped would slow the GOP front-runner, at the very least.

Walker said Wednesday that he still considered the Wisconsin election an important one.

"Absolutely," he said. "It would have been over . . . if Trump had won (in Wisconsin)."

The governor said it was no surprise that Trump took New York, his home state. Cruz, who has been widely quoted for his criticism of "New York values," finished behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the New York contest.

In the end, Walker said, he doubts that either Trump or Cruz will have the backing of enough delegates to earn the nomination on the first ballot. He said he is predicting that Cruz wins in the second or third round.

The Wisconsin governor held the door open for switching his support to another candidate if GOP delegates cannot settle on a candidate quickly.

As a delegate, he said he is bound to vote for Cruz as long as the Texas senator has the support of a third of the floor vote.

"If Ted Cruz or Donald Trump . . . was below 30% of the floor vote, I think they would no longer seriously be in consideration," Walker said. "If it got to that point, I think everything's up in the air."