HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Republican National Committee members appeared ready to accept that Donald Trump is just doing bombastic shtick for the primary and will change if he becomes the party nominee.
Trump campaign strategists Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley told a room full of Republican National Committee members Thursday Trump is ready to move forward.
According to audio leaked to media outlets Thursday, Trump campaign strategist Paul Manafort told the GOPers at a closed-door meeting that Trump really understands the RNC’s complex nominating process. “He gets it.”
“That’s what’s important for you to understand: That he gets it, and that the part he’s been playing is evolving,” Manafort explained, implying Trump was ready to change his image going into a general election.
“The negatives are going to come down, the image is going to change, but Clinton is still going to be crooked Hillary,” he noted.
One RNC official from a Western state laughed off Manafort’s pitch telling The Daily Caller in disbelief that the Trump camp basically said “they really did understand the rules and they weren’t here to learn about them from us.”
“Of course they [get it]. It would be malpractice if they didn’t. So I just think its political posturing on their side to complain about the rules and complain about the process, because they think it fits their populist vote,” Cruz campaign adviser Saul Anuzis told TheDC.
New Hampshire National Committeeman Steve Duprey told reporters after the meeting, “I actually remember Paul Manafort and Charlie Black duking it out at the 1976 convention. It’s reassuring to see the campaign mature.”
Duprey added, “The campaign is very reassuring of understanding the financial needs of a modern campaign,” noting the members are aware of how political rhetoric works but that the same rules that have been in place for a number of years. We’ll just let this process play out.”
Duprey explained that individual members are talking to the Trump campaign, and both Manafort and Wiley started their presentation “by reassuring members they want to have a great relationship with the RNC and all that’s important.”
Colorado GOP Chairman Steve House, who received death threats from political activists after his state held its convention to allocate delegates, told TheDC that he spoke to Manafort before the meeting, and that Manafort attempted to smooth things over with him after Trump himself trashed Colorado’s election process.
“Well, actually, I had private conversations with Paul ahead of time, and I was comfortable with that conversation. I understand what they’re doing. They understand what they’re doing. In the end, I don’t think there are any impediments to a general election strategy where we support them if they are the campaign,” House said.
Manafort also said in his presentation that Trump “gave us the mandate to bring together a team of professionals that could finish the job for him, but could also then begin to link in with the establishment institutions that are part of our party, what you represent, what the state parties represent.”
Referencing members of Congress and conservative organizations, he said, “We’ve started all those conversations. [Trump] cares about the united team.”