Presumptive Nominee Removed From RNC Agenda

(RightWing.org) – The race for the Republican presidential nomination has taken an unusual turn. It’s already looking like former president Donald Trump is almost certain to win the nomination. With only one other serious candidate left in the race, and Trump leading by a huge margin, his allies wanted the Republican National Committee (RNC) to declare him the presumptive nominee at its Las Vegas meeting. However, that proposal was taken off the agenda — and Trump himself supported its removal.

The RNC held its winter meeting in Las Vegas from January 30-February 1, and ahead of the event, Maryland Committeeman David Bossie introduced a draft resolution calling on the party to declare Trump as the presumptive nominee. The move wouldn’t make any real difference to the former president’s campaign, but it would have been a visible sign of the party’s backing for his bid to return to the White House. It also called for the party to move into “full general election mode” and start building Team Trump 2024.

However, when word of the draft emerged on January 25, Trump immediately stepped in with a post on his Truth Social platform. In it, he said while he “greatly appreciate[ed]” the support, he felt that “for the sake of PARTY UNITY” it should be dropped, and that he planned to secure his nomination through the remaining primary and caucus votes. At this point, there’s little doubt he can do that, and achieving it will preempt any claims that he was “crowned” as the nominee without winning it fair and square.

After Trump’s intervention, the RNC went ahead with the meeting in private, an unusual step as usually the press are allowed in. The declaration wasn’t on the agenda. Still, it’s already obvious what the RNC thinks. Chair Ronna McDaniel said last week that she doesn’t see any way for former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, the only other serious candidate still in the race, to win the nomination. Naming Trump as the GOP’s candidate for November is just a formality, but Trump himself wants to do it “the old-fashioned way.”