A former Pat Buchanan adviser has launched a petition that threatens to launch a new political movement if the Republican Party fails to nominate Donald Trump.
Paul Nagy founded the Draft Buchanan movement in 1992 and went on to serve as his Northeast campaign director. On Sunday, he launched a petition titled “We Will Walk,” which currently has over 1,000 signatures.
The petition states: “Let it be understood that if Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Mitt Romney and the Republican Party power brokers steal the Republican nomination from Donald Trump at the convention — when Trump is the clear leader — we will walk out of the Republican party and not support its nominee.”
Nagy told The Daily Caller Monday that he thinks the chances of Trump of having the plurality of delegates and not receiving the nomination is over 50 percent. He said he is working now “to make sure if that happens there is a vehicle for Donald Trump to step into.”
The former Buchanan adviser said a new political movement rising out of the GOP’s exclusion of Donald Trump would not be one exclusive to the New York real estate developer. He told TheDC, “I believe that this movement transcends Trump individually. I mean this is about the country. It’s like Trump said ‘do we wanna have a country or not?'”
Nagy added, “It doesn’t have to be Trump. I mean this movement can take hold and that’s one of the things I hope to be a part of. I want to bring down the current Republican Party. I want to get rid of the impotent snobs.”
He has been contacting people in each of the states and is hoping to “interact with the delegates that have been elected and will be elected.”
The former Buchanan adviser is not alone with his movement as a parallel movement “#NeverTrump” has gained momentum as of late. It was launched months ago and has over 20,000 signatures. This movement is backed by longtime conservatives and Republicans, such as Bill Kristol, who see Donald Trump as “hijacking” the GOP.
What does Nagy make of this, “We’re right and they’re wrong and it takes me back to the Buchanan days.” He believes George H.W Bush not only stole the nomination from Buchanan, but that the Bushes stole conservatism.
“See I’m of the belief that once Ronald Reagan did not take Jack Kemp and took a G. W. H. Bush as his vice president the whole conservative movement was dead upon arrival. And when the Bushes got into office they succeeded in changing what was once a Reagan conservative,” said Nagy.
He added, “The Bush moderates became the conservatives. And people like me, who were Reaganites, became extremists.”
Nagy grew up in Trenton, NJ and he thinks his working class roots are suitable for this election cycle, “This is a street fight, this is what I do. I’m a street fighter.” He said, “I’ve been out of politics for a while, and Trump’s candidacy is what has brought me back.”
As a former Buchanan supporter, he defines his career in politics as “fighting the RNC and the GOP establishment.” Nagy told TheDC, “when they see my name they are going to get heartburn because they are going to say I thought he was gone.”
While the “We Will Walk” petition implies a new party, Nagy is willing to embrace the RNC on one condition. “It has to be brought down all together. And when Trump is the president, it has to be brought back up again. It has to be what it should be. It should be a people’s party, not an elitist party,” he said.
