Donald Trump was expected to win big in New York and he did just that. But contrary to the claim he made during his victory speech, the results did not mean that Ted Cruz was “mathematically eliminated.” Trump may wind up getting as many as 90 of the 95 delegates available, but New York didn’t finish Cruz. Trump must still run the table in the remaining Northeast primaries next week and then beat Cruz in Indiana and do the same in California in order to be sure of getting the 1,237 he needs to clinch the nomination on the first ballot in Cleveland. That is the only way Cruz can be eliminated. But that characteristic boast in what was for Trump a relatively restrained statement was the only thing that Trump didn’t achieve in New York as far as his quest for the Republican presidential nomination was concerned. But nothing that happened on Tuesday should make GOP voters any more sanguine about Trump’s chances of winning in November in a blue state like New York or anywhere else.

Cruz’s Wisconsin victory two weeks ago seemed to be the moment when Trump was finally being held accountable by voters for his egregious conduct, placing what had started to seem like an inevitable march to the nomination in doubt. But in New York, Trump seemed to be able to change the conversation about the race from one about his gaffes and characters flaws to one about the Republican establishment cheating him. That narrative is mostly false, since Trump has benefitted more from the rules governing the allocation of delegates in various states than they have harmed him. That was just as true in New York as it was elsewhere as he won what may turn out to be approximately 60 percent of the votes but will win up with up to 90 percent of the delegates awarded in the state.

Ted Cruz may not be dead but his cheap shot against Trump representing “New York values” came back to haunt him there with a vengeance. It’s not clear that voters elsewhere cared about the nastiness of that quip, but it killed him in the Empire State. But though he never expected to do well in Trump’s home state, it may turn out to be more important than anyone thought since it not only cratered Cruz’s effort to chip away at the frontrunner and pick off a few delegates but elevated John Kasich to the runner-up position there.

Kasich’s bump in New York doesn’t bring him any closer to being a genuine contender. Despite picking up a few delegates in New York, Kasich still is behind Marco Rubio, who dropped out over a month ago. But, like his runner-up finish in New Hampshire, this largely meaningless distinction will give his otherwise pointless campaign more life. That undermines Cruz’s case as the only available alternative to the frontrunner, making it hard for him to consolidate the anti-Trump vote in the next states to vote. If Kasich continues to compete with Cruz in this manner, it will make it that much easier for Trump to win against a divided field in a state like Indiana, where victory for the real estate mogul could truly remove any doubt about the outcome of the campaign.

But as much as New York took him that much closer to the GOP nomination, it did nothing to validate the one argument that Trump makes about why he can actually win a general election.

According to Trump supporters, their candidate’s popularity with white working class voters is so great he can put normally blue states into play. But unless you believe independents in New York who couldn’t vote in that state’s closed primary will all vote for Trump, it’s hard to see how the small vote Trump amassed could possibly beat Hillary Clinton who alone received more than double the number of ballots cast for the reality star. New York’s registration numbers are lopsided in favor of the Democrats. But there is no sign that there is any groundswell of Democrats looking to defect to Trump in that state or any other blue stronghold. Moreover, the New York exit polls showed that up to one-third of Republican voters are scared or concerned about the prospect of a Trump presidency. A fifth of Republicans would never vote for Trump.

With so many Republican defectors, so few Democrats coming over for Trump (most so-called Reagan Democrats became Republicans long ago), independents shunning him by margins that rival his deficits among female and Hispanic voters, and the Democratic base energized by their hatred for him rather than love for Clinton, the formula for a GOP election disaster in November may already be baked into the cake.

Republican optimists may cite Trump’s relatively uncontroversial victory speech and the hiring of some professionals for his staff as a sign that the candidate is starting to act in a more presidential manner. But they are kidding themselves. Trump has already defined himself in the popular imagination in a way that can’t be undone. That has earned him a core of GOP support that looks right now as if it is enough to secure him the nomination, especially if Cruz keeps getting shellacked and Kasich is stealing some of the anti-Trump vote.

But while New York has put him a big step closer to winning his party’s nod, nothing we learned from Tuesday night’s results indicates that he is anything but a certain general election loser.