Carson Threatens to Leave GOP if RNC Brokers Convention

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks during the 20/20 Club Presidential Justice Forum at Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, November 21, 2015. Carson seemed to fear that such discussions would lead to backdoor deal-making in choosing a Republican nominee.

The Washington Post reported that these leaders met late last week to discuss how to cope with Trump’s rise to the top of most GOP polls and what to do if no candidate wins a majority of delegates heading into the party’s convention.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that not every delegate is “bound” to support the candidate they pledged to support prior to the convention, and the three party leaders from each state are especially likely to have the freedom to back a candidate of their own choosing.

“I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure is Donald”, he said. “I won’t stand for it”, said Carson, who added that if the plot is accurate, “I assure you, Donald Trump won’t be the only one leaving the party”.

“I signed a pledge, but the pledge was a double deal – they were supposed to be honorable”, Trump told Tapper. Trump has repeatedly threatened to embark on an independent run for the White House if the party does not treat him fairly.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who’s also shown a strong early presence in the race for the party’s nomination, renewed his threat to leave the party if a brokered convention created to blunt his standing were to take place.

In the meantime, Carson has continued his downward trend in other polls, leaving him tied for third nationally on the RCP average.

Trump pounded on familiar campaign themes of building a wall along the USA southern border, barring Syrian refugees from entering the United States, protecting Second Amendment gun rights, and criticizing Washington, D.C., incompetence, saying at one point “I tell you, folks, we’re being led by stupid people”. No, no, there will not be any brokered major political party conventions today.

At the dinner, the party heavy weights discussed the possibility of a brokered convention, which occurs when no one candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination by the start of the national convention and an inevitable floor fight ensues.

Laura Ingraham: A Brokered Convention Is “A Declaration Of War Against The Republican Base Voters.” . “And, you know, if that is the case, then you know I’m out of here”. However, several states have deadlines in March if a candidate forms a third party, which can sometimes require fewer signatures to get on the ballot. Donald Trump and Carson could dangle the possibility of independent runs for president well into the primary season next year, but they can¿t wait forever. And it was even more clear in the 2008 cycle, when Hillary Clinton was seen as a lock for the nomination before Barack Obama pulled off the huge upset.