John Podesta believes Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Marco Rubio are most likely to become the GOP's nominee -- in that order. | AP Photo Podesta to donors: Cruz is likely GOP nominee

Donald Trump's apparent belief that the Republican primary contest is now a two-person race between himself and Ted Cruz isn't exactly shared at the top of Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta handicapped the GOP race for 90 Democratic donors assembled at a private fundraising event in Berkeley, California, on Thursday night, according to a Clinton backer who was in the room, telling the crowd that he viewed Cruz as the likeliest nominee, followed by Trump, and then Marco Rubio.


Podesta's remarks — which he made sure to say represent his own views, not an official campaign position — came after the real-estate magnate proposed a blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States, and Podesta suggested that the resulting surge of attention being paid to Trump didn't change his belief that Cruz was the likeliest pick.

But he did confirm that the Democratic front-runner's recent moves to use Trump's remarks as an anchor to drag down the rest of the Republican Party was a concerted political strategy — and that the donors shouldn't expect the strategy to go away anytime soon.

The crux of that argument is not that the other candidates are afraid to criticize Trump, Podesta told the donors: it's that they agree with him.

The top-ranking official on Clinton's team, Podesta has mostly stayed away from the public eye during the campaign apart from the occasional television interview, instead keeping his focus on private events. Thursday night's fundraiser was closed to reporters, like all of Clinton's campaign cash events.

But it landed amid the race's most controversial week yet, when the Democratic frontrunner's strategy for dealing with Trump took on added urgency.

And it came while the team is hurtling toward the end of the fundraising quarter and its goal of raising $100 million for the primary before 2016 — while donors are increasingly curious about the Brooklyn-based campaign's tactics.

Clinton aides like campaign manager Robby Mook, policy staffer Jake Sullivan, and surrogate outreach aide Michelle Kwan — the former figure skater — have all headlined recent fundraising events, as has former President Bill Clinton.

And top surrogates have also stepped up their own presence on the money trail: longtime Clinton friend and strategist James Carville has become an active campaign fundraiser, while New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is set to host an event in London on Dec. 29.

Even Podesta has been raising money in increasingly unexpected ways this month: the campaign has recently advertised to donors the chance to join him at a cooking event with Sarah Schafer, the executive chef of Irving Street Kitchen in Portland, Oregon, last Wednesday night, and at another similar confab with Marcus Samuelsson, the chef and owner of Harlem restaurant Red Rooster, in Brooklyn on Monday.