Anti-Trump Republicans call for GOP emergency meeting

by Jesse Byrnes - 08/08/16 9:16 AM ET

Republican activists unable to block Donald Trump from receiving the GOP presidential nomination are calling for an emergency meeting to strip him of the mantle.

Members of the “Free the Delegates” movement, which tried to use party convention rules to thwart Trump’s nomination, said Sunday they’re reaching out to members of the Republican National Committee (RNC), The Washington Post reported.

{mosads}The move was described as primarily symbolic, despite Trump having fallen behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in polls recently.

The Post noted that RNC members from at least 16 states can compel Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman, to call an emergency meeting. Anti-Trump activists want the RNC members to invoke a rule laying out the process for nominating a new candidate.

Activists are focused on the RNC’s Rule 9, which allows Republicans to replace their nominee in cases of “death, declination, or otherwise.” The anti-Trump activists are focusing on the last component, “otherwise,” as justification for swapping out Trump for another candidate.

Trump is slated to deliver an economic speech Monday in an effort to move past a week riddled with blowback over his feuding with the Muslim family of an Army captain who died in Iraq in 2004 and his initial refusal to back Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in their primaries.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton John McCain Paul Ryan