By MEG KINNARD and THOMAS BEAUMONT (Associated Press)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Republican National Committee is expected to consider a resolution next week to declare Donald Trump the party’s “presumptive 2024 nominee,” even though only two states have voted and the former president has nowhere near the requisite number of delegates to clinch the mantle.
If approved, the measure would further solidify Trump’s control of the party and its operation at a time when former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is still competing against Trump for the GOP 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 forward moves into full general election mode welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024.”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel already has signaled her approval. On Tuesday, after Haley finished second to Trump in New Hampshire, McDaniel said that while she felt the former ambassador had “run a great campaign,” Republicans “need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump.”
News of the resolution, first reported by The Dispatch, comes as officials prepare to gather in Las Vegas next week for the RNC’s winter meeting, where it is expected to be discussed.
New Jersey Republican National Committeeman Bill Palatucci, a longtime supporter of former GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie, called the resolution “silly.”
“It’s insulting to millions of primary voters who wait for the opportunity to get involved in presidential politics every four years,” Palatucci said.
Regardless of what the RNC decides, the AP will not refer to any candidate as the “presumptive nominee” until he or she has captured the number of delegates needed to win a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer. The earliest…
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