Donor Wallets Stay Shut as #NeverTrump Looks for New Maneuvers
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Yet another plan to stop Donald Trump from becoming the official Republican presidential nominee materialized this weekend.
A group called "Free the Delegates" is planning to introduce a "conscience clause" into the GOP rules committee that would allow them to vote freely against the candidate during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July. Even though this would allow delegates to potentially cast ballots against the will of the voters they pledged to represent, House Speaker Paul Ryan seems to support the initiative.
"The last thing I would do is tell anybody to do something that is against their conscience," Ryan said. "It is not my job to tell delegates what to do, not to do, or to weigh in on things like that. They write the rules, they make their decisions."
What is this group really up to, and can they actually stop the billionaire businessman? Regina Thomson, a Republican delegate in Colorado and organizer with “Free the Delegates,” weighs in today on The Takeaway.
Despite the push from the #NeverTrump faction to change the rules, the RNC and party organizations in 11 states have started working with Trump to raise funds for the general election. They face a huge goal — it's estimated that Trump must raise at least $1 billion to effectively compete against Hillary Clinton.
But at the end of April, Trump had $2.4 million cash on hand compared to Clinton's $30 million. News out last night from the Federal Election Commission shows that Trump now has about $1.3 million in cash on hand, and is trailing Clinton by about more than $41 million. The announcement prompted social media users to take to Twitter with the hashtag #TrumpSoPoor.
Speaking at a rally in Las Vegas over the weekend, Trump promised that if Republican donors and the party wouldn't come forward, he'd continue to self-finance his campaign, saying that for him, it is "the easy way."
Still, there are major questions as to whether he has the assets readily available to do so, and Rebecca Ballhaus, a Wall Street Journal reporter covering politics and campaign finance, says Trump will be dependent on the Republican Party for funds and field organizers in the fall.
Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear our full conversation with Thomson and Ballhaus.
