Hillary Clinton Acknowledges Donald Trump Will Most Likely Be the Republican Nominee

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- With three state wins under Donald Trump's belt, Hillary Clinton is now ready to acknowledge something many on both sides of the aisle never could have imagined saying: that the real estate mogul turned reality-TV star will likely be the Republican presidential nominee.

"Yes," Clinton said on "Morning Joe" today when asked by Joe Scarborough whether she thinks Trump will beat the remaining GOP contenders.

"I mean, right now it looks like that," she continued. "But I'm not going to handicap their race. I want to let them decide that."

Clinton's remark comes as her campaign appears to be slowly preparing for a potential matchup between Trump and the Democratic presidential candidate.

Clinton sent a fundraising email to supporters Thursday with the subject line, "Donald Trump."

"I've said for a long time that Trump isn't a joke, and now, he's looking more and more likely to be the Republican nominee," she wrote in the email.

"The man who riles up his crowds by calling Mexican-Americans criminal and suggesting Muslims should be banned from entering this country has limitless resources to run his campaign -- and he also has a lead in the delegate count," she added.

Later Thursday night, during a campaign event in Charleston, Clinton didn't mention the "T" word, but she did appear to take a veiled swipe, pledging to do "whatever I can" to "move away from campaigns of insults and prejudice and paranoia."