The Republican National Committee is thinking about anointing former President Donald Trump as its “presumptive” presidential nominee despite the fact that voters in only two states have had their say, according to multiple reports.
Such a move would put former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley in the awkward position of continuing her campaign when her party has already signaled that they do not believe she can succeed.
A draft of a resolution making Trump the presumptive nominee is currently circulating around the RNC, according to The Dispatch (who first reported on the resolution), CNN and NBC News. The resolution would not interfere with the remaining states’ ability to hold primaries and appoint delegates as usual. Under the RNC’s current rules, Trump would have to secure 1,215 delegates to get the Republican Party nomination.
If approved, however, Trump would have access to the RNC’s vast network of campaign resources, CNN noted.
The resolution says that “any money spent from this moment forward in the primary process is better spent fighting the democrats” and ends with: “RESOLVED that the Republican National Committee hereby declares President Trump as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States and from this moment forward moves into full general election mode welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024.”
Haley, for her part, has firmly stated that she intends to stay in the race.
She counted significantly fewer votes than Trump in both Iowa’s caucus and New Hampshire’s primary. But Haley has argued that she presents an alternative to Trump and President Joe Biden, given the advanced age of both men and the “chaos” that a second Trump presidency would bring.
“The political class and the media want to give Donald Trump a coronation. They say the race is over,” said Betsy Ankney, Haley’s campaign manager, in a Tuesday memo. “They want to throw up their hands, after only 110,000 people have voted in a caucus in Iowa and say, well, I guess it’s Trump. That isn’t how this works.”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel raised eyebrows this week when she said in a Fox News interview that she believes the party should start to unite behind Trump, given his popularity with Republican voters.
She urged Haley to drop out.
“I’m looking at the map and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley,” McDaniel said.
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