Some Republican leaders and lawmakers in the House of Representatives are struggling to get behind the NY businessman, who last month became the party’s presumptive nominee for the November 8 election.
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Following the terror attack in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people, Trump renewed his proposal to ban all Muslim immigrants from entering the United States.
Matt Mackowiak, a Republican political consultant in Austin who hasn’t decided whether to vote for Trump, said he senses real concern within the party that the presumptive nominee will hurt GOP candidates for the Senate and House, possibly costing them control of Congress.
“Be quiet”, he said, directing his comments towards GOP leaders.
The efforts formally kicked off Thursday with a conference call of more than 30 delegates from 15 states, The Washington Post reported.
“He’s a different kind of candidate”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is backing Donald Trump but says other Republicans will have to make their own decisions because “it’s a very unusual situation”. But the movement to ouster Trump gained new steam after the fallout from the past two weeks.
“And we’re going to do it because we’ve done a better job at the RNC, and we’re also going to have a nominee who is going to pivot in tone and tenor”.
“First of all, let’s just make sure we keep the victims in our prayers and their families”, Ryan said.
Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan also said he will not vote for the billionaire presidential candidate.
In a statement Friday, he dismissed the plots against him.
For his part, Trump has expressed willingness to move forward with or without assistance from fellow Republicans. Delegates could sour on Trump and approve procedures opening the door to an alternative. And I don’t think that’s possible. Why not? One possibility is that they’re leery of giving Trump and Roger Stone a target list of people to harass if the delegates end up revolting against Trump’s nomination.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has a dueling measure to delay a gun sale for 72 hours, but require prosecutors to go to court to show probable cause if they want to block the sale permanently. Much of what Trump has been saying on the campaign trail is virtually identical to what Republicans have been saying for years.
The Log Cabin Republicans, a group of conservatives that are supportive of equal rights for LGBT voters, has been receptive to Trump’s newfound support, however.
Sarah Anderson, spokesperson for Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, said that while Romney McDaniel continues to support the nominee, they are not always going to agree on every issue. It’s painful. You know, people even get divorces, you know? “They would have to unbind themselves, they would have to go through a process of changing the rules actively to say that we want to go against the wishes of the voters”.
Stopping Trump at the convention would be exceptionally hard, however. Those interviewed clung to the possibility that Trump could be ousted on the convention floor by a delegate revolt, which would take shape through a rules change that would allow Trump’s bound delegates to vote for another candidate. But the delegates are frantically coordinating with other #NeverTrump Republicans across the country to mount a contested convention in July.
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Efforts to oust Trump in Cleveland appeared to ebb after Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol floated David French as his vaunted third-party option.
