COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Republican National Committee is expected to consider a resolution next week to declare Donald Trump the “presumptive 2024 nominee,” even though only two states have voted and the former president does not have nearly the requisite number of delegates to win the mantle .
If approved, the measure would further strengthen Trump’s control over the party and its operations, at a time when former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is still competing with Trump for the Republican nomination.
The measure, according to a draft obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, “declares President Trump as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States and, from this moment on, goes into full general election mode, involving the supporters of all candidates are welcomed as valued. members of Team Trump 2024.”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has already given her approval. On Tuesday, after Haley finished second to Trump in New Hampshire, McDaniel said that while she thought the former ambassador “ran a great campaign,” Republicans “need to unite around our ultimate nominee, which will be Donald Trump.”
News of the resolution, first reported by The Dispatch, comes as officials prepare to meet next week in Las Vegas for the RNC’s winter meeting, where it is expected to be discussed.
New Jersey Republican National Committee member Bill Palatucci, a longtime supporter of former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, called the resolution “silly.”
“It is an insult to millions of primary voters who wait every four years for the opportunity to get involved in presidential politics,” Palatucci said.
Regardless of what the RNC decides, the AP will not call any candidate the “presumptive nominee” until he or she has collected the number of delegates needed to secure a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer. The earliest that could happen is March.
But there are no party rules prohibiting the RNC from taking such a step. If passed, it would give the Republican Party an advantage in planning a presidential matchup with Democratic President Joe Biden, who has come to view his reelection campaign as a rematch against Trump in 2020.
And there is precedent for the committee declaring a candidate the presumptive nominee before securing the 1,215 delegates required to secure the nomination. In May 2016, then-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared Trump the presumptive nominee before he had bagged the correct number of delegates.
Despite losing both the Iowa and New Hampshire elections to Trump, Haley has argued that her performance – which outpaces all other Trump rivals – demonstrates the strength of her candidacy.
Trump currently has 32 delegates, compared to Haley’s 17. There is one more delegate to be assigned after the New Hampshire election.
Neither the Haley campaign nor the Trump campaign returned messages seeking comment Thursday.
At a rally Wednesday night in her home state of South Carolina, Haley — the former governor — noted that her campaign had raised more than $1 million since her second-place finish in New Hampshire. Trump followed with a comment that seemed intended to intimidate her donors.
“Anyone who makes a ‘contribution’ to Birdbrain will be permanently excluded from the MAGA camp from this moment on,” Trump wrote, using the nickname he coined for Haley and the abbreviation for his slogan “Make America Great Again ‘. “We don’t want them and we won’t accept them because we put America first and ALWAYS WILL BE!”
Trump’s dismissal of all Haley donors had no effect on TJ Petrizzo, a former top Capitol Hill aide and now lobbyist who supports Haley.
“That’s something out of a ‘Godfather’ movie. Never betray the family? Come on,” he added. “You have to pass this on.”
Petrizzo said he understands some Republicans may be ready for a Trump-Biden infighting, but he noted there is still a lot of time left before a general election takes place.
“I’ve heard many elected officials in the Republican Party, including the chairman of the RNC, say, ‘We need to get behind a candidate.’ That this will be our candidate. “It was chosen by Iowa and New Hampshire, so we have to go ahead and get behind Trump,” Petrizzo said. “Well, there are 285 days until the election. There is plenty of time on the clock.”
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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
