“It’s over folks. We need to get behind our candidate”, said Steve Scheffler, who also pushed additional language to clarify that delegates are bound.
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The minute Trump won a majority of pledged delegates and Cruz threw in the towel, however, the whole effort to use the rules against the presumptive nominee at the convention took on an entirely different complexion.
The most likely scenario – maybe the only realistic one – is a Trump nomination (despite his VP nomination fumbling, his failure to unify the party, etc.) and solid defeat in November.
Trump’s pending coronation is unsettling many Republican leaders – prompting Republican national chairman, Reince Priebus, to warn them that “if we don’t stick together as a party and stop her, then the only alternative is to get comfortable with the phrase President Hillary Clinton”.
“I think that Mr. Trump has reached a decision, but he hasn’t – he isn’t prepared to announce it yet”, Paul Manafort said of the veep pick, who CBS News has reported will be Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. That vote was immediately preceded by a recorded vote of 87 to 12 that made explicit delegates’ binding.
John Ryder, the party’s general counsel, set the tone early in the week, telling delegates the law binds them to the candidates their voters and state parties selected.
It’s black outfits today for the mourners of the passing of the #NeverTrump movement.
As Thursday’s negotiations foundered, the alliance between the Trump campaign and leaders of the Republican National Committee showed its muscle and began rejecting conservatives’ attempts to revamp party rules.
“None of them went as far in their refusal to attend the convention as Trump critic and Nebraska Republican senator Ben Sasse”, Myers explained before sharing an actual quote from Sasse on his alternative plans, “Sen”.
And there are a few other people who don’t want to speak for Trump at the Republican National Convention.
The convention’s Rules Committee – convened exactly a week before Trump is expected to accept the party’s nomination – worked well into the evening Thursday as an air of distrust hovered over the 112-member panel.
As a result of the deal collapsing, the Rules Committee proceeded to debate a series of votes to limit the power of the RNC.
It has become clear that Cuccinelli is a Cruz surrogate, hoping to throw a wrench in the rules and anoint his friend Ted Cruz in 2020.
Cleveland paid $250,000 to secure 200 extra rooms in the Cuyahoga County jail, according to the Republican National Committee budget.
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Phillips spoke with me by phone on Thursday about his support for Trump and about the trip to Cleveland.
