According to an ABC News report, Republican officials are weighing possible options of replacing Donald Trump with just three months left—if he were to drop out of the race.
Senior party officials, having grown frustrated by the unpredictability of their presidential candidate, are actively exploring how to replace him on the ballot “if he drops out,” the ABC News report said.
Trump would have to voluntarily exit the race as there is no mechanism to force him to withdraw. Trump, however, has given no indication he plans to.
He tweeted on Wednesday that “there is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before. I want to thank everyone for your tremendous support.”
Tensions between the Republican presidential nominee and the Republican Party increased after Donald Trump said he was not ready yet to endorse Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain on Tuesday, both of whom are up for re-election in their state.
The non-endorsement came amid criticism from within the Republican party against Trump over his handling of a speech given by the Muslim parents of an Army Captain killed in Iraq in 2004, at the DNC convention last week.
Trump’s campaign has dismissed allegations that his campaign is struggling. “The candidate is in control of his campaign,” said Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, in an interview with Fox News.
Manafort also denied the reports that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other prominent Republicans were planning to intervene.
According to sources cited in the ABC report, Priebus called Trump on Tuesday to question him on how he’s running his campaign and how he’s handling the feud with the family of the slain U.S. Army captain.
According to the Republican National Committee’s rules, Rule No. 9 stipulates that “the Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for President of the United States or the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.”
