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RUSH: There’s, folks, a lot of stuff going on in the Republican campaign. There are two things we need to get into today at some point. One is the Trump campaign, the selection of his vice president. And, as you’ll hear again coming up in audio sound bites, one of the names being bandied about is Mike Pence, who is being referred to here as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” (interruption) Well, he’s a former radio talk show host. They called him “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” Newt Gingrich’s name is also being thrown out. There’s some people very, very alarmed about this.

There’s some people very concerned that it’d be a big boo-boo for Trump to go out and find an elected Republican — no matter who it is — to serve as his VP, because that’s not who Trump is. He doesn’t need to get these guys that are from the Republican establishment near his ticket. Ann Coulter has a piece saying that, if he does this, it’s the first thing that she’s disagreed with Trump on. She very, very concerned about it. She says if Trump goes out and picks an elected Republican to be his VP, that the thing that’s gonna happen is he’s gonna be impeached in six months.

The Republicans will impeach him, and he’ll get removed, and they’ll install his establishment VP as the president and take the party back and take the White House back. That’s just her theory on this. She thinks that he needs to get somebody nobody ever heard of like Lincoln did who is as big on immigration — anti-illegal immigration — as he is, and get somebody that nobody is gonna wish were president, so they don’t impeach Trump. Get somebody that is gonna really be his advocate for the thing that really matters to him, that it’s these consultants he’s hired that are trying to gum up the works here ’cause that’s not who Trump is.

So we’ll talk about that. The Wall Street Journal has a story: “Anti-Donald Trump Forces See Convention Coup as Within Reach.” That’s right. I saw a story last night that they are up to 900 delegates for Trump now. They think that they can get the rule changed, the rule that requires pledged delegates to vote on the first ballot for the guy who won the state. That gives Trump well over 1,237. But, if they can get the rules changed, right now Trump’s only got 900 delegates and wouldn’t even win the nomination. The rules-change effort is well underway, and that’s what this Wall Street Journal story is: “Anti-Donald Trump Forces See Convention Coup as Within Reach.”

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  No.  I didn’t forget it.  I didn’t forget.  I’m not teasing you.  It just things keep late-breaking here.  But we’re gonna get to the Wall Street Journal story today by Reid Epstein.  He says, “Anti-Donald Trump Forces See Convention Coup as Within Reach.” I want to tell you what that’s all about.  And, believe me, according to what’s consumable out there, they’re closer to this than you might think, if what they’re saying is true.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Before time runs out, let me get to this Wall Street Journal story.  As I say, it’s by Reid Epstein.  And the headline:  “Anti-Donald Trump Forces See Convention Coup as Within Reach.”  This about the rules committee, folks.  And the subheadline of the story: “Backing of 28 Rules Committee members would allow a full vote on unbinding delegates.” What that means is (as you remember from the campaign) on the first ballot, delegates are required to vote according to the results in each state, which is why the tabulation of delegates after each primary mattered and was tallied.

So the magic number of 1,237.  So Trump is way beyond that now.  What is he over 1,300 or 1,400 now after the primaries? Something around there.  So what the rules committee… There’s a bunch of Never Trumpers out there, and they at the Republican Convention. They’re at the convention, they’re delegates, and they’re members of the rules committee.  And they are attempting to pass a rule that would unbind delegates on the first ballot, meaning delegates could vote their conscience, their preference on the first ballot.  They would not have to follow.

Now, it’s the Republicans’ convention, they are a private organization, and they can make whatever rules they want.  So they can try to do this, and they are trying to do it.  And there are 28 rules committee members already who would vote to change the rule to unbind delegates on the first ballot.  “Months after Donald Trump appeared to seal the Republican nomination for president, anti-Trump forces still have one last chance to force a vote on the party’s convention floor that would throw open the GOP contest again.  It’s a long shot, but by some counts they are remarkably close to getting past the first hurdle next week in Cleveland.”

So gonna meet next week before the convention starts a week from Monday.

“Mr. Trump’s intraparty foes, led by a group of rogue delegates, are waging an intense behind-the-scenes effort to push the Republican National Convention’s Rules Committee for a vote on freeing delegates to back whom they wish, rather than being bound to [the Trumpster].  The presumptive nominee’s team is fighting back just as vehemently, with an organized campaign of dozens of aides and volunteers. It’s a power struggle that has prompted threats of reprisals and left many Republicans anxious that it could hurt the party’s prospects in November.

Now, here are the numbers: “The anti-Trump camp needs the backing of 28, or [25%], of the 112 Convention Rules Committee members, in order to place the issue before the full convention.” The rules committee cannot, by itself, change the rule.  They recommend a change and then the whole convention votes on the change.  They need the backing of 28, and they say they are close.  “In interviews, 20 members of the rules committee say they’re willing to consider allowing delegates to be unbound.  Fifty-nine delegates support Trump; 33 couldn’t be reached or didn’t respond to messages requesting a response to this.”

Now, who’s doing this?  Who do you think’s doing this, Mr. Snerdley? (interruption) You think it’s the Cruz camp doing this?  The Never Trump Cruz camp?  So this is…? Trumpists believe that the workings behind the scenes here are the evil manipulations of the Ted Cruz campaign, that there are serious efforts being made… And, on the other hand, Cruz… I saw an NBC story;I don’t know if this is true or not. Cruz is lobbying for a speaking position, one of the nights. Well, the Donald will eventually have to pass on that, approve that or not.  So that intrigue is going on.

Now, the Journal, of course — these news media people — want to create drama and want to make it look like something is going on so people will be interested to read about it.  I don’t know if it’s as close as they’re letting it out to be, but some people think it is.  Some people think this is dangerously close.  Here’s the other part of this.  You do this, if you’re a rules committee member… If you’re a Never Trumper, you do this because you think you can win on the whole-convention vote.  It’s one thing to get the rules committee to vote to do something, but then whatever change passes the rules committee has to be voted on by the whole convention.

Well, you don’t really go all out on this unless you’re confident — relatively confident — you can win the full convention delegate vote.  And the number I saw last night is that they believe. The Never Trumpers believe that, if they succeed that, on a first ballot where delegates are not bound, that the maximum number Trump is gonna get right now is 900.  Did you see that last night?  So they think, the Trump coup… Well, the anti-Trump coup crowd, believe that if they succeed at the rules committee, that they will succeed ’cause they think the maximum… They’ve canvassed.  The maximum number of delegates that actually want to vote for Trump on any ballot — but the first ballot is what counts — is 900.  That’s well short of 1,237.  If any of this happens, folks… If any of this happens, it’s gonna be, “Hillary who?”  It’s gonna be a civil war like you have not seen since the civil war.

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