WaPo’s Costa: GOP Establishment Preparing for a Brokered Convention Behind Closed Doors

Thursday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” The Washington Post’s Bob Costa reported the so-called Republican Party establishment is now officially preparing for a brokered convention.

Costa said, “They met Monday night at the Source restaurant a few steps away from here on Capitol Hill. Reince Priebus was there, Senate Majority Leader [Mitch] McDonnell and a group of long-time party hands, people that have been close to Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, people going back many campaigns. And said to the party chairman [Reince] Priebus, you have to start to prepare for a brokered convention. You have to have a strategy if this goes to a second ballot. What that means perhaps, Chuck, is having some campaigns, if they decided to end, suspend their campaigns rather than end, so that they can throw their delegates somewhere.”

Host Chuck Todd said, “Two of the people in there were Mitch Daniels, former Indiana governor and current president of Purdue university and former Vice President Dick Cheney.”

Costa said, “This was the ultimate gathering of the Republican establishment. It was strictly off the record, attendees where told not to talk about it. It was like a political fight club. But the word leaked out and it all became an event, because Priebus originally started the meeting, according to people there, just talking about the rules, and people said, wait a second — McDonnell, Priebus, what are we going to do if Trump starts to have the delegates going into Cleveland. We got to have some kind of game plan.”

He added, “This is something Priebus thought would not happen. He said months ago, last August, that there would probably be a nominee for the Republican Party in March. Logistically reasons but it’s really strategic, there’s a concern they can’t be overtly anti-Trump. They know if they do that Trump can run as an independent. So what can they do logistically getting delegates slots ready to make sure if Trump somehow becomes the nominee, or close to being the nominee they have an alternative strategy.”