Republican voters should unify in support of Donald Trump because he is almost certain to become the party’s presidential nominee, Newt Gingrich argued in a guest editorial the Washington Times published Wednesday.

“Every analysis of the next few weeks indicates Trump’s margin will widen and he will move steadily closer to 1,237,” the former speaker of the House wrote, referring to the number of delegates required to secure the nomination in the first round of balloting at the GOP national convention.

“These are the numbers of a presumptive nominee, not a front-runner,” Gingrich added. “If this were any candidate but Donald Trump, the media would be saying his rivals’ efforts were hopeless and the establishment would be pressuring them to exit the race. … In (Texas Sen. Ted) Cruz’s home state, Trump got nearly one-third of the delegates in a four-person race.”

The former Georgia congressman, who held the top position in the House in the 1990s, suggested that Trump will be victorious in all the primaries next Tuesday in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and California. “It is likely that (Ohio Gov. John) Kasich will come in second and Cruz will come in third in all of those states,” Gingrich wrote.

He predicted that Trump will clinch the nomination on the first ballot when Republican delegates convene in Cleveland, Ohio, in July. “It is time for the GOP establishment to work with this new reality, rather than wage war against it,” he wrote.

The Hill pointed out that Gingrich has not endorsed any of the candidates.

Photo: Gage Skidmore