Story highlights Ted Cruz said, "There is no alliance" with John Kasich's presidential campaign

"Donald Trump may be the only person on earth that Hillary Clinton can beat," Cruz said.

Washington (CNN) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday downplayed the idea of an alliance between himself and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to prevent Republican front-runner Donald Trump from locking up the nomination.

"I recognize that the media is all eager to talk about an alliance. There is no alliance. Kasich and I made a determination where to focus our energies. Where to focus our assets, where to focus our resources," he said at a news conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Cruz and Kasich campaigns issued statements Sunday saying they will divide their efforts in upcoming contests with Cruz focusing on Indiana and Kasich devoting his efforts to Oregon and New Mexico.

The eleventh-hour bid by Cruz and Kasich to deny Trump the Republican nomination by dividing upcoming contests took election observers by surprise and came after both Cruz and Kasich were mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention. Trump is the only GOP presidential candidate with a realistic shot at securing the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination.

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