Carson Threatens To Leave Party If GOP Officials Keep Plotting Over Convention

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks at a news conference Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, in Henderson, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

If Republican party bosses continue meeting to discuss how to derail Donald Trump at the convention, Trump won’t be the only one to turn his back on the GOP. Now, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson says he’ll leave too.

“If this was the beginning of the plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace them with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party,” Carson said in reference to a private dinner attended in Washington by 20 party officials including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

According to the report in the Washington Post, Republican leaders are preparing now for what to do if they get to the convention in July and Trump is still holding on to a major chunk of the primary vote, but has not become the clear nominee. The topic of the dinner was peculiar as Trump has been the clear frontrunner in the GOP primary for nearly five months.

“I pray that the report in the Post this morning was incorrect. If it is correct,” Carson said. “If it is correct, every voter who is standing for change must know they are being betrayed. I won’t stand for it,” Carson said.

Read the full statement below:

“If the leaders of the Republican Party want to destroy the party, they should continue to hold meetings like the one described in the Washington Post this morning.

“If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replaces it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party.

“I pray that the report in the Post this morning was incorrect. If it is correct, every voter who is standing for change must know they are being betrayed. I won’t stand for it.

“This process is the one played out by our party. If the powerful try to manipulate it, the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next summer may be the last convention. I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure is Donald. But I will not sit by and watch a theft. I intend on being the nominee. If I am not, the winner will have my support. If the winner isn’t our nominee then we have a massive problem. My campaign is about ‘We the People’ not ‘They the Powerful.’”

Update: Carson told Fox News Friday that while he may become an independent, it was not his intention to upset the primary by running as third-party candidate.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. LOL. Dude, they WANT you to leave the party. The sooner the better!!!

    You are not the one they are hashing out convention floor strategies about. The fear of belt buckle stabbings just isn’t there.

  2. Carson has no intention of doing the work for a third-party campaign. It would interfere with the grifting. So this is his endgame–complain he is not being treated fairly, and “suspend” his campaign.

    Buh bye.

  3. OK, God, if you really exist and you really love us, here’s a way to prove it: Third- and fourth-party campaigns by Trump and Carson.

  4. Carson should go independent.

  5. Avatar for estamm estamm says:

    Don’t write a check that your ass can’t cash.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

158 more replies

Participants

Avatar for victorabrahamsen Avatar for fess Avatar for looby Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for fgs Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for kwoodgr Avatar for matthew1961 Avatar for leftflank Avatar for avattoir Avatar for chammy Avatar for firstprime Avatar for krusher Avatar for crackerjack Avatar for mantan Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for sherlock1 Avatar for sangsue Avatar for jeffrey Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for dnl Avatar for azjude Avatar for edhedh Avatar for lizzymom

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: