Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” conservative commentator Pat Buchanan discussed what the eventual nomination of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump could mean to the GOP.

Buchanan told fill-in host Tucker Carlson it would open up a lot of new possibilities for the Republican Party, especially if he is able to ultimately win over those who are currently supporting GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

“I think if you get Trump as the nominee, his potential is going to those states where he did well — Michigan and I think he’s going to do well in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” Buchanan said. “Go to those Rust Belt states, go after the Bernie Sanders Democrats, you know, white working-class folks, Reagan Democrats, and go and put together that kind of coalition. If he can get the Cruz people with him, I think you have the makings of a different, new, exciting, robust party.”

Buchanan was not as optimistic for Cruz as the nominee. He argued Cruz would lose many of Trump’s current supporters in a general election.

“Frankly, some of them came out to vote against Trump, but most of them came out to vote for Trump because he’s a populist conservative, he’s going to secure the border, make America great,” Buchanan added. “All of these things as positive, optimistic outlooks. I think if Cruz takes it away from Trump, I think an awful lot of those folks just go home.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor