Saturday on CNN’s “Smerconish,” host Michael Smerconish pressed Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer on what it could mean in a general election should the GOP lose the supporters of party presidential front-runner Donald Trump if he is not the nominee despite winning the most delegates and/or popular vote.
Smerconish warned it could cost the GOP the White House in the fall.
“Sean, it’s just us talking here, right?” Smerconish said. “If you come out of Cleveland and you don’t have [Trump’s] constituency, you lose in the fall.”
Spicer argued there’s not much his organization does in determining who the delegates vote for at the convention except ensure the process is open and transparent.
“We don’t do it,” Spicer replied. “This is the will of the delegates. There are 2,400-plus delegates that are elected at the grassroots level. People have to understand the people getting elected from coast to coast are people that were elected at the congressional level or statewide level to go and represent the people of their state, their congressional district, their county. Our job is purely as a facilitator to make sure that we have a process that’s open and transparent. It’s up to the delegates. And frankly, it’s up to a majority of the delegates in every single vote to decide what we want as a platform, what rules we want as a committee and, yes, what nominee we want as a party. But those delegates and their will is what carries the day in every circumstance.”
Smerconish doubled down, and once again warned about losing Trump’s supporters, to which Spicer argued the party needed the supporters of all the presidential hopefuls.
“OK, but to my point, you need the Trump constituency to win the White House,” Smerconish said.
“Sure, we need the Cruz constituency,” Spicer replied. We need the Rubio. We need the Kasich. We need the Paul. We need all of it. There is not a constituency — look, we’ve lost the last two elections. In politics, you win by addition, not subtraction. We need all of that plus to win. So, there’s no question we need to be unified. I get it, but this isn’t a game of horseshoes. If the delegates select an individual with the majority of the vote, that’s who that nominee will be, plain and simple, no ifs, ands or buts. It is up to them. It’s not up to us. It is up to no one in Washington. It is up to the elected delegates from around this country that come together and make their voice heard.”
(h/t Mediaite)
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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