Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus says the chances of anyone but Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump becoming the GOP nominee is “highly unlikely,” but “nothing is impossible” at the Politico Playbook breakfast Friday.
When asked whether the rules process could be used against the presumed nominee, Priebus said the committee’s role in Cleveland will be relatively limited.
“My personal view is it’s highly, highly doubtful,” he said. “As I’ve said before, the Rules Committee of 2016 writes the rules for the convention … I know that we’ve been through this now for months together, walking through our rules, but the RNC is basically a caretaker, an administrator of a convention.”
Several Republican power players – including House Speaker [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore], Sen. Ben Sasse and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney – have said they don’t plan on endorsing Trump. Sasse called for the party to recruit a conservative alternative. Prior to Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropping out of the race, many conservative critics of Trump were gunning for a brokered convention.
“Well nothing’s impossible, but like I said, I’ve said this many times, highly and I’d add another one—highly unlikely,” Priebus reiterated.
Priebus said the news of Cruz dropping out caught him by surprise, but feels Trump was gracious in his victory speech and believes he is moving toward a more presidential demeanor.
“I’m hoping we’ll see more of that,” he said.
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