Trump Rejects GOP Plan to Install Him as Presumptive Nominee

(Left) Former President Donald Trump at his primary-night party in Nashua, N.H., on Jan. 23, 2024. (Right) Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley at her primary-night rally in Concord, N.H., on Jan. 23, 2024. Chip Somodevilla, Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump had a chance to be designated the GOP’s “presumptive nominee.” He didn’t take it.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) was poised to consider a resolution that called for Republicans nationwide to focus “all efforts and resources” to defeat Democrat President Joe Biden.

After learning about the proposal on Jan. 25, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he appreciated the gesture.  But, he said, “I feel, for the sake of party unity,” written in all capital letters, “that they should not go forward with this plan.”

The former president still faces opposition from his sole remaining Republican challenger, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who also served as South Carolina’s governor for two terms.

President Trump said he was confident that the RNC would have approved the proposed resolution in his favor but that he prefers to “do it the ‘old-fashioned’ way and finish the process off at the ballot box.”

He added: “Thank you to the RNC for the respect and devotion you have shown me!”

RNC spokesman Keith Schipper, in a statement released to The Epoch Times on Jan. 25, said the RNC’s Resolutions Committee would “decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week.”

However, the author of the resolution, Maryland RNC member David Bossie, withdrew it, a source familiar with the matter told The Epoch Times on Jan. 26.

Mr. Bossie made that decision after President Trump posted his statement on Truth Social early in the evening on Jan. 26, the source said.

Mr. Bossie, who worked on the Trump campaign in 2016, did not respond to a message left for him at his conservative political organization, Citizens United.

Proposal Causes Stir

News of Mr. Bossie’s proposal broke on Jan. 25, via TheDispatch.com. That news outlet’s report included a link to an unsigned, undated document headlined, “Resolution to Declare President Trump As the Apparent Nominee of the Republican Party.”

That document was an authentic copy of the one that Mr. Bossie had presented for the RNC’s consideration, a source familiar with the matter told The Epoch Times.

The proposed resolution acknowledged the earnest efforts of all the candidates. But it also emphasized that President Trump won the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary by decisive margins. Therefore, the resolution said, he could be considered the “presumptive” or “apparent” nominee.

Hope Hicks, Deputy campaign manager David Bossie, and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway attend the final Trump campaign rally on Election Day in Devos Place in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 8, 2016. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It also stated that the former president was holding “an insurmountable lead in all states voting from now through Super Tuesday,” March 5. On that date, 16 states and territories will decide which candidate they would like to see as the RNC’s presidential nominee for the November general election ballot.

In years past, Super Tuesday had been pivotal in deciding which candidate stood the best chance of being nominated.

But this year appears to be an anomaly, as all candidates except President Trump and Ms. Haley have already suspended their campaigns.

In online comments, supporters of the former president appeared to generally welcome Mr. Bossie’s proposal, saying time and money were being squandered on Ms. Haley’s efforts.

But others were critical of the notion that the RNC would even consider such a resolution; some called it an attempt at “election interference.” The RNC pointed out that its chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, “doesn’t offer resolutions.”

Opponent: ‘Who cares?’

While Mr. Bossie’s suggestion was still in play on Jan. 25, Ms. Haley’s campaign weighed in.

“Who cares what the RNC says? We'll let millions of Republican voters across the country decide who should be our party’s nominee, not a bunch of Washington insiders,” said Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas in a message released to The Epoch Times.

Further, Ms. Perez-Cubas called upon Ms. McDaniel to organize a debate in South Carolina between Ms. Haley and President Trump.

That would be “helpful,” Ms. Perez-Cubas said, suggesting that perhaps Ms. McDaniel might be “worried that Trump can’t handle being on the stage for 90 minutes with Nikki Haley.”

The former president has rejected invitations to participate in debates with political rivals. He said debating his opponents would hold no advantage for him and made no sense while he enjoyed a dominant lead in virtually all opinion polls.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shakes hands with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley at the fifth Republican presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10, 2024. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Dominant Polling Lead Persists

President Trump’s margin of victory in Iowa was about 30 percent. That’s about 4 percentage points lower than The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average of opinion polls had indicated, which is within the margin of error for most polls.

In New Hampshire, the polls were further off-target. President Trump beat Ms. Haley by about 11 percentage points, eight points lower than RCP had gauged.

Ms. Haley has resisted calls for her to drop out of the race amid assertions that she faces a long shot in other states. New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 first-in-nation primary was widely viewed as her best chance at a win.

Now, the RCP nationwide is showing President Trump almost 58 points ahead of Ms. Haley.  He was drawing support from about 70 percent of poll respondents, while about 13 percent supported Ms. Haley.

In the next state that will hold a presidential preference contest, Nevada, there is an unusual situation, caused by a change in state law conflicting with the state GOP’s preference.

Ms. Haley chose to participate in the state-sanctioned primary on Feb. 6 rather than the GOP caucus on Feb.8; only the latter will decide which candidate receives delegates for the RNC nominating convention set for July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In the caucus, President Trump and distant challenger Ryan Binkley will be up for voters’ consideration, Bruce Parks, chairman of the GOP in Nevada’s Washoe County, told The Epoch Times.

The following state, South Carolina, will hold its first-in-the-south Republican primary on Feb. 24. Voters can cast ballots in that “open primary” election if they did not vote in the Democrat primary on Feb. 3.

South Carolina is Ms. Haley’s home state, where she formerly held the governorship. Nevertheless, she is lagging in opinion polls there. President Trump, who lives in Florida but spent most of his life in New York, was holding a 30-point lead over Ms. Haley in the RCP as of Jan. 26.