Hmmm -- dissension amongst the ranks.
Paladino predicts ‘war’ if there’s an attempt to derail Trump at convention
Republican rumblings about their presumptive presidential nominee are growing louder throughout the party across the country – but you don’t hear much of the talk in New York State.
Party conservatives appalled at Donald Trump’s penchant for controversy are seeking some way – any way – to derail his nomination at the Republican National Convention that will open July 18 in Cleveland.
But any move to stop Trump will encounter a firewall from New York State Republicans, especially Western New Yorkers assigned to key committees.
“If there is any attempt in the rules committee to somehow allow delegates to go away from their pledged duty, there’s going to be a war,” said Buffalo developer and 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl P. Paladino, a campaign co-chairman for Trump in New York.
Paladino and Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy are warning any Republicans even contemplating a political coup against Trump to “back off.”
“There’s a lot of firepower here from Western New York in the mix,” Langworthy said. “If there is a problem in Cleveland, we would be the go-to people to work against that.”
Paladino, a Trump delegate and credentials committee member, did not mince words in warning any potentially wayward Trump delegates.
“I’d certainly whack them if they went off the reservation,” he said.Continued
Paladino, however, questions whether other New York Republicans are as committed to Trump as those from Erie and other western counties.
“I don’t trust our entire delegation,” he said. “Everything is not as hunky-dory as it appears.”Paladino, who is often critical of State GOP Chairman Edward F. Cox, contends that the Kasich campaign received silent encouragement from GOP headquarters during the primary campaign. He also said he believes that the nominee will even prefer that Cox relinquish announcing the bloc of votes that officially confers the nomination, a duty traditionally reserved for the chairman of the nominee’s home state delegation.
“We want Donald Trump Jr. to be the delegate that makes that announcement,” Paladino said, adding that he remains “hesitant” about Cox acting as chairman of the New York contingent to the convention.
“I still don’t trust him,” Paladino said. “If Cox keeps his word, fine – not like playing the games he did in the primary.”
Read more:
http://politicsnow.buffalonews.com/2016/06/21/new-york-republicans-stand-by-trump-as-some-in-gop-warn-of-mass-defections/
