Some Michigan Republicans Hope to Dump Trump At Next Week’s Convention
“Is it the last chance? No. Is it the best chance? Yes,” says Rory Cooper of the #NeverTrump PAC.
Republicans are getting ready to head down to Cleveland for their national convention. The GOP is expected to hand Donald Trump the party’s nomination for president. But plenty of delegates — including some from Michigan — want their party to dump Trump. Some cite hateful rhetoric toward Muslims, Mexicans, and others. Others say he’s not a true conservative and doesn’t represent the party’s ideals. And still others are just concerned that he won’t win in November.
The RNC rules committee meets on Thursday. It could consider proposals from #NeverTrump folks, including freeing convention delegates to vote for candidates other than the ones decided by primary or caucus voters in their state.
Two Republicans from Michigan who are hoping the GOP will select someone other than Trump as their party’s nominee join Detroit Today to talk about those efforts at the RNC.
“I look at it this way, we are engaged to Donald Trump. That’s what the primary voters have done. They have engaged us to Donald Trump,” says Michigan RNC Delegate Wendy Day, who says it’s up to delegates like herself to actually say, “I do.”
“I have grave concerns that he will not beat Hillary (Clinton) and that he will destroy the Republican brand and what we stand for,” says Day, who was elected as a Cruz delegate.
#NeverTrump PAC Senior Advisor Rory Cooper, who’s originally from Franklin, Michigan, says the movement is running out of opportunities to dump Trump.
“Is it the last chance? No. Is it the best chance? Yes,” says Cooper, who’s also a managing partner with Purple Strategies.
“There is a great deal of distrust in this country right now with our institutions, with our leaders,” he says. “We are not going to restore that trust with Donald Trump. But we can restore it with another candidate.”
To hear the full conversation, click on the audio player above.
