After Ben Carson bashed swirling reports of Republican Party officials discussing the possibility of a brokered convention, Donald Trump wrote him a note to thank him for his “excellent” point.
“I watched what Ben said. I agreed with him 100%. I even wrote him a little note. I thought it was excellent, and frankly, he may be right,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper in Des Moines before holding a campaign rally. “I’ve been hearing about these closed door meetings, and I don’t like that.”
Senior GOP officials met at a routine private dinner this week and discussed the possibility of a brokered Republican convention, which hasn’t happened in decades. Carson on Friday floated the idea that he might leave the Republican Party should elites “subvert the will of the voters” and select an establishment candidate over voters’ preferences.
“If the leaders of the Republican Party want to destroy the party, they should continue to hold meetings like the one described in the Washington Post this morning,” Carson said in a statement. “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.”
Trump and Carson both signed a pledge to run only as Republicans and not mount independent bids.
“I signed a pledge, but the pledge was a double deal — they were supposed to be honorable,” Trump told Tapper. “So we’re going to find out if it’s that way. They’re going to have problems, but I hope it’s not going to be that way. I hope it’s not going to be that way.”