Ben Carson Friday threatened to leave the Republican Party after seeing reports of a high-level meeting of party establishment figures to discuss the road ahead.
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She told the radio host she didn’t understand Carson’s response to the reports, saying the outcome of a brokered convention would be determined by the voters, not Republican Party leaders.
“I say to Dr. Carson, ‘Don’t worry, your prayers have been answered, ‘” Spicer told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
“Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party” if the officials continue to discuss how to “manipulate” the process, Carson said in the statement, referring to the front-runner’s past openness to a third-party bid if he isn’t treated “fairly”.
“No, I’m not going to threaten to leave the party, because I actually am a Republican”, Fiorina said.
A third-party run by Carson or Trump would be a worst-case scenario for the GOP. With Trump maintaining a steady 20 to 30 percent in national polls and at least two or three other contenders positioned for a long run, the prospect of no one emerging from the primary process with a majority of delegates remains real, in this view.
“If there is a mechanism to make sure somebody other than Donald Trump wins the nomination, I think that is a good thing for Republicans”. I intend on being the nominee. “I would support any reasonable idea to find a better nominee”.
The party’s rules then award a significant number of bonus delegates to states that supported the Republican Party’s nominee in the previous presidential election, as well as smaller bonuses to states with Republican governors, senators, House delegations and state legislative majorities.
What is that? Well basically, if a nominee isn’t chosen in the first round of voting at the convention where the party’s presidential nominee is formally named, delegates are allowed to change their minds on the candidate they’re backing and vote for whichever candidate they want instead of the candidate they’re supposed to be backing based on the primary elections in the various states.
The Republican establishment is playing with fire if they take any action that is perceived to harm the winners of caucus and primary states.
Ben Carson on Friday took a page from Donald Trump’s playbook by threatening to depart the Republican Party.
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Trump’s call for a ban on muslims entering the United States in the wake of the San Bernardino massacre sparked a firestorm of criticism, but also support for from many Republican voters. If that’s what they are planning or doing, they may inadvertently set the stage for independent presidential campaigns and further damage an already fractured relationship with many conservatives and Republican voters, which is why insurgent candidates are thriving in the first place.
