Former President Donald Trump has rejected a plan by the Republican National Committee to declare him the presumptive nominee for the general election, stating “party unity” as the reason. Let’s be real: this move likely has nothing to do with party unity and has a whole lot to do with Trump being the kind of guy who likes to win and win big. Also, by winning a decisive victory over Nikki Haley, he sends a message to both President Joe Biden and the establishment within the Republican Party: I’m still the man.
“While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX,” he posted on Truth Social.
“Thank you to the RNC for the Respect and Devotion you have shown me! TRUMP2024,” he continued.
One thing’s for sure: Trump is the most influential politician in recent history. People have a loyalty to him that no one has seen in a long time. At times, a small percentage of those in the MAGA crowd goes a bit overboard, but it’s not hard to understand why he has such a massive following. He fights for the little people, which is something the left claims to do while saddling them with higher inflation, more taxes, and less freedom and prosperity.
The former president has had an impressive showing at the last two Republican primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, pulling in more than 50% of the vote. After he Iowa, all of his major competitors in the race bailed out except for Haley.
Many folks on the right have been urging Haley to accept that she has no clear path forward and just drop out. She has refused to do so.
Reuters reported that David Bossie, an ally of Trump’s, first shared the notion of declaring the race over in a resolution that would have been discussed during the RNC’s winter meeting, which is scheduled for next week in Las Vegas.
However, when Trump rejected the idea, he withdrew it.
NBC News stated that Ronna McDaniel, the Chairwoman for the RNC, weighed in on how the race looks after the former president’s victory in New Hampshire and said,“I’m looking at the map and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley.”
“I do think there’s a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear: We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump,” she added.
Not everyone who heard about the resolution was thrilled, including committee member Oscar Brock of Tennessee, who said that it “certainly violates the intent” of RNC rules for primary races.
“The rules specifically say you’re not the guy until you’ve gotten 50 percent plus one of the delegates required for the convention,” he remarked.
The news concerning the resolution really fired Haley up who responded to it by saying, “Who cares what the RNC says? We’ll let millions of Republican voters across the country decide who should be our party’s nominee, not a bunch of Washington insiders.”
I’d think she should care what the RNC says since it is officially doing the nominating and all. This sounds like a temper tantrum more than a statement made in strength or resolve.
If Haley loses her own home state, it’s probably time to hang it up.