GOP presidential contender Ben Carson said Friday he would consider bolting from the party if Republican leaders try to steer the party’s nomination toward a candidate of their liking in a “brokered” convention.
Mr. Carson’s warning followed a report in The Washington Post that said establishment leaders are growing increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s hard-charging bid for the GOP nomination.
The Post reported that GOP officials and establishment figures shared their concerns with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus at a dinner and urged him to be prepared to lay groundwork for the possibility of a floor fight at the convention if Mr. Trump performs well in the primaries, but not well enough to wrap up the nomination in a first-ballot vote.
That scenario would open the door to a “brokered” convention, where the establishment could coalesce around an alternative to Mr. Trump, the report said.
Mr. Priebus did not endorse the idea, The Post reported.
“If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party,” Mr. Carson said in a statement Friday.
Read more in Washington Times:“I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure is Donald,” he said