GOP Sen: Delegates ‘Silenced’ By Rules Committee, Forced To Support Trump

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah speaks during a conference call in his Capitol Hill office in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, with representatives from religious non-profits who are concerned about how the Supreme Court's... Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah speaks during a conference call in his Capitol Hill office in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, with representatives from religious non-profits who are concerned about how the Supreme Court's upcoming gay marriage decision will affect their institutions, and members of the media. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Delegates leading the charge to stop Donald Trump’s nomination at next week’s Republican National Convention were smacked down in a Thursday Rules Committee vote that would have allowed them to vote their conscience.

Ardent Trump opponent Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) gave a speech in support of unbinding the delegates, accusing the real estate tycoon of silencing their voices.

“I hope that whoever our nominee will be this time will in fact win over the delegates,” Lee said, according to Buzzfeed News.

“This problem, this angst, as we will see in a few days isn’t going to go away just because we paper over it with rules,” Lee said. “So I say to Mr. Trump and those aligned with him, make the case, make the case to those delegates who want to have a voice, make the case that they should use their voice to support him. Don’t make the case that their voices should be silenced.”

Lee supported the “conscience clause” proposed by Kendal Unruh, a Colorado delegate who led the Free the Delegates Movement. The movement focused on changing party rules so that delegates could “unbind” themselves and support a candidate of their choosing.

“The right to conscience isn’t just something we’ve decided is a cool idea,” Unruh told the room, according to Buzzfeed. “It’s something that’s the basis of our nation.”

The anti-Trump delegates fell far short of the 28 votes needed to move the conscience clause amendment from the rules committee to a broader vote at the convention itself. They also lost a vote against binding delegates.

Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort sent a tweet applauding the results after the late-night votes were in.

Lee said he wasn’t abandoning hope, however. He told Buzzfeed that people shouldn’t “assume the problem’s gonna go away,” leaving the possibility open for some sort of last-ditch delegate action on the convention floor.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. “Lee said he wasn’t abandoning hope, however.”

    The rest of us have.

  2. Maybe they can get enough delegates to stay away so there’s not a quorum. Maybe all the delegates who stay away can start a different party. Or maybe they can recognize the will of the people they’ve climbed into bed with.

  3. Perhaps they need to post on the entrances to the city of Cleveland “Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here”.

  4. Cleveland Trumpalooza:

    "Cleveland welcomes the Republican Party: Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

    Captive delegates! rotflmao____“You vil’ support Hair Furor…und you vil’ like it! Or you vil’ be shot!”

  5. Delegates ‘Silenced’

    FOX: Obama’s America now has become full communist. Freedom of speech is no longer constitutional. We must support Trump to bring it all back.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

26 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for jw1 Avatar for sysprog Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for artemisia Avatar for humpback Avatar for trnc Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for inversion Avatar for sniffit Avatar for frankly_my_dear Avatar for sherlock1 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for pine Avatar for emilianoelmexicano Avatar for clauscph Avatar for originalbob Avatar for jordanolsen26 Avatar for boisdevache Avatar for yail_bloor

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: