The Republican primaries began in Iowa, where Donald Trump blew away the competition by obtaining a difference of 30 percentage points with the candidate in second place. The second state on the calendar was New Hampshire, where the former president won by a double-digit margin against Nikki Haley. After these telling results, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has received a resolution to end the primary process early.
David Bossie, RNC member for Maryland, is the author of the resolution that directly proposes to declare Trump "as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States," and "welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024."
Bossie argues that the former president's nomination is inevitable after his two consecutive victories. According to him, "all evidence denies the possibility of a mathematical path to the 2024 Republican nomination by any candidate other than President Trump, our presumptive nominee."
“The draft resolution, obtained by The Dispatch Thursday morning, was proposed by David Bossie, an RNC committeeman from Maryland and close Trump ally.”
That’s all you need to know. Trying to force out @NikkiHaley by the Trump camp with @GOPChairwoman steering this tells me that… pic.twitter.com/9BuaSLQU05
— JohnBurk (@johnburk39) January 25, 2024
Keith Schipper, RNC spokesperson, spoke with The Hill and clarified that Ronna McDaniel has nothing to do with the proposal, since resolutions can only be presented by RNC members.
"This will be taken up by the Resolutions Committee and they will decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week," he added.
What did Donald Trump say?
The former president expressed himself on his Truth Social account and, although grateful for the gesture, he was not very convinced by Bossie's initiative.
"While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the “Old Fashioned” way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX. Thank you to the RNC for the Respect and Devotion you have shown me! TRUMP 2024," he wrote.
Nikki Haley's response
The former South Carolina governor's campaign issued a statement prepared by its spokesperson, Olivia Pérez-Cubas, who emphasized that the decision belongs to Republicans throughout the country, and not solely the RNC.
"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," she began.
"If Ronna McDaniel wants to be helpful, she can organize a debate in South Carolina, unless she’s also worried that Trump can’t handle being on the stage for 90 minutes with Nikki Haley," the statement concluded.
Upcoming Republican primaries
February 8 : Nevada caucuses
February 24 : South Carolina primary
March 2 : Idaho and Missouri caucuses
March 4 – North Dakota caucuses
March 5 : Super Tuesday (Alabama, Alaska caucuses, American Samoa caucuses, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa Democratic caucus mail-in voting, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia).
