Trump challengers accuse GOP of rigging 2020 election in the presidents favor by canceling primaries in four states
- The GOP in four states is set to cancel its 2020 primaries and caucuses.
- President Donald Trump's GOP challengers, former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, are livid.
- "Trump is afraid of a serious primary challenge because he knows his support is very soft," Walsh said in response to the impending moves.
- Meanwhile, Weld said Trump is "doing his best to make the Republican Party his own personal club."
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Republican parties in four states are planning to cancel their 2020 primaries and caucuses - South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas - and President Donald Trump's GOP challengers are decrying the move as undemocratic, Politico reports.
Trump has two Republican primary challengers at the present date: Former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
Walsh and Weld are accusing the GOP of rigging the election in Trump's favor as a result of these impending moves.
"Trump and his allies and the Republican National Committee [RNC] are doing whatever they can do to eliminate primaries in certain states and make it very difficult for primary challengers to get on the ballot in a number of states," Walsh told Politico.
Walsh said the RNC should be "ashamed," adding that the move shows "Trump is afraid of a serious primary challenge because he knows his support is very soft."
The former lawmaker said that primary elections are important and "competition within parties is good." Walsh added that he intends to be on the ballot in every state "no matter what the RNC and Trump allies try to do."
"We also intend to loudly call out this undemocratic bull on a regular basis," Walsh added.
According to Politico, RNC officials said they didn't play any role in this.
Echoing Walsh's sentiments, Weld in a statement said, "We don't elect presidents by acclamation in America. Donald Trump is doing his best to make the Republican Party his own personal club. Republicans deserve better."
Some state GOP leaders say 'there's no rationale to hold a primary' with an incumbent president
Republican parties in various states have cancelled primaries in the past, including in 2004 when former President George W. Bush was running for re-election. The Democratic Party has also done so in some states in the past, such as Arizona in 2012 when former President Barack Obama was running for re-election.
"As a general rule, when either party has an incumbent president in the White House, there's no rationale to hold a primary," South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick told Politico.
State party leaders are also pegging this as a way to save money.
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald said, "It would be malpractice on my part to waste money on a caucus to come to the inevitable conclusion that President Trump will be getting all our delegates in Charlotte."
During the 2016 campaign season, Trump repeatedly suggested the election was "rigged" against him
In April 2016, Trump tweeted, "Lyin' Ted Cruz will never be able to beat Hillary. Despite a rigged delegate system, I am hundreds of delegates ahead of him." At the time, then-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who later became Trump's first White House chief of staff, dismissed Trump's claims as "hyperbole."
After he became the GOP nominee, Trump continued to suggest the election was "rigged" but this time by the Democrats - implying former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would defeat him under unfair circumstances and signaling he might not concede if he lost.
"This whole election is being rigged," Trump said in October 2016. "The whole thing is one big fix. One big ugly lie. It's one big fix."
Prior to that, Trump also suggested that the Democratic primary process in 2016 was "rigged" against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Trump, for example, in May 2016 tweeted, "Bernie Sanders is being treated very badly by the Democrats - the system is rigged against him. Many of his disenfranchised fans are for me!"