Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he does not support efforts to pressure the Republican National Committee into declaring him a ‘presumptive nominee.’
The former president made the remarks Thursday on his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.
‘While I greatly appreciate the Republican National Committee (RNC) wanting to make me their PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE, and while they have far more votes than necessary to do it, I feel, for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX,’ Trump wrote.
Trump’s statement pushes back on efforts led by a former aide of his campaign, David Bossie — an RNC committee member who has urged Republicans to rally around the former president despite the ongoing primary.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is facing growing calls for her to leave the 2024 presidential race as the RNC nearly considered a resolution to declare Trump the party’s presumptive nominee.
The RNC was set to consider a resolution that, if approved, would have declared Trump to be the party’s presumptive nominee for president in 2024. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the resolution on Thursday, but it was later withdrawn.
In a statement, RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said, ‘Resolutions, such as this one, are brought forward by members of the RNC. Chairwoman McDaniel doesn’t offer resolutions. This will be taken up by the Resolutions Committee, and they will decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week.’
Haley’s campaign told Fox News Digital it was up to the millions of Republican voters across the country to decide who the party’s nominee will be, ‘not a bunch of Washington insiders.’
Trump trounced his rivals with convincing wins in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary this month, and experts agree there is likely little hope for Haley — the only alternative to the former president remaining in the race — in the upcoming South Carolina primary despite it being her home state.
Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.