Ben Carson joins Donald Trump in threatening to leave GOP

The Washington Post reported that the group, including Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, discussed the possibility of a “brokered national convention” if there isn’t a clear victor in the party’s months long primary election season.

Responding to reports that Republican party leaders had begun discussing the possibility of a contested convention in 2016, Ben Carson condemned the GOP heads early Friday for trying to “manipulate” the primary outcome.

There are many within the RNC leadership that are opposed to Trump’s controversial statements and the fear that he could cause lasting damage to the Republican Party. This would start a process where candidates will have to cut deals to sway delegates and as successive votes are made until a candidate has won a majority of ballots.

Speaker Ryan gets it. He and a few of the Republican candidates – Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, Mark Rubio – also get it and have criticized Trump’s religious test nonsense.

While the assembly of the GOP’s top brass did not focus on a contested convention, according to the Washington Post, talk did turn to what would happen if no candidate received enough delegates to win the nomination.

The RNC had all candidates sign a pledge at the beginning of the race that they would support the eventual Republican nominee.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is making some serious noise lately.

While some high-profile Republicans fear attacking Trump will alienate his supporters, the 8th District congressman is much more candid.

A handful of moderate intellectuals has sought to move the party back toward the center, but their record so far is one of unbroken failure…

Sean Spicer, Republican National Committee spokesman, said Carson should be concerned.

“If there is a mechanism to make sure somebody other than Donald Trump wins the nomination, I think that is a good thing for Republicans”. Still, among that comparatively small slice of likely Republican primary voters, Trump’s support grows, even as national polls among all voters reveal he’s not close to being a victor.

One official at the dinner meeting said the discussion of a brokered convention only came up briefly and that it was not about Trump.

A so-called “brokered convention”, in which no single candidate has a sufficient number of nominating delegates to become the presidential nominee in the November election, used to be a common feature of American politics, but there has not been one in more than 60 years. They are, as the saying goes, between a rock and hard place.