In a win for the never-die wing of the Never Trump crowd, a federal judge in Virginia said the state could not force delegates to support the state’s primary winner at the coming national convention.
The case involved a Republican delegate, Carroll “Beau” Correll Jr., who supported Sen. Ted Cruz for president, but not Donald Trump. Trump won Virginia’s primary, however. And according to state law, as well as party rules, that meant GOP delegates had to vote for Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this month, else face possible fines.
But Correll didn’t want to, so he went to court and challenged the party regulations.
The judge just sided with him, tossing the rule as antithetical to the First Amendment – and sending Correll into very public expressions of glee.
“[Trump’s campaign got] morbidly humiliated,” he said, NBC News reported. “They put all their chips on the table and they lost all of them. If I were them I’d go hide in a closet in Trump Tower.”
Correll then issued a written plea to others in the party who don’t want to vote for Trump.
“To national political figures that are on the sidelines and awaiting your calling,” he wrote, “I implore you to take a step forward from the darkness and into the light. Show us that you have the courage to stand for leader of the Free World, appeal to the better angels of our nature, and to deliver this Republic from the abomination of a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency.”
Legally speaking, the judge’s ruling only affects Virginia delegates. It also doesn’t change RNC rules – rules that Correll agreed to abide when he accepted the appointment as delegate. And one rule? Party delegates have to vote for the candidate who wins the primary, something the Trump campaign said the judge actually reinforced in his ruling.
As such, the billionaire businessman’s political operatives aren’t seeing the judge’s decision as a loss at all – rather a “fatal blow to the anti-Trump agitators,” the campaign said in a statement.
“The court has confirmed what we have said all along: Rule 16 is in effect and thus delegates, including Correll, are bound to vote in accordance with the election results,” said Trump campaign attorney and former FEC chairman Don McGahn, NBC News reported.
The case involved a Republican delegate, Carroll “Beau” Correll Jr., who supported Sen. Ted Cruz for president, but not Donald Trump. Trump won Virginia’s primary, however. And according to state law, as well as party rules, that meant GOP delegates had to vote for Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this month, else face possible fines.
But Correll didn’t want to, so he went to court and challenged the party regulations.
The judge just sided with him, tossing the rule as antithetical to the First Amendment – and sending Correll into very public expressions of glee.
“[Trump’s campaign got] morbidly humiliated,” he said, NBC News reported. “They put all their chips on the table and they lost all of them. If I were them I’d go hide in a closet in Trump Tower.”
Correll then issued a written plea to others in the party who don’t want to vote for Trump.
“To national political figures that are on the sidelines and awaiting your calling,” he wrote, “I implore you to take a step forward from the darkness and into the light. Show us that you have the courage to stand for leader of the Free World, appeal to the better angels of our nature, and to deliver this Republic from the abomination of a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency.”
Legally speaking, the judge’s ruling only affects Virginia delegates. It also doesn’t change RNC rules – rules that Correll agreed to abide when he accepted the appointment as delegate. And one rule? Party delegates have to vote for the candidate who wins the primary, something the Trump campaign said the judge actually reinforced in his ruling.
As such, the billionaire businessman’s political operatives aren’t seeing the judge’s decision as a loss at all – rather a “fatal blow to the anti-Trump agitators,” the campaign said in a statement.
“The court has confirmed what we have said all along: Rule 16 is in effect and thus delegates, including Correll, are bound to vote in accordance with the election results,” said Trump campaign attorney and former FEC chairman Don McGahn, NBC News reported.
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