Ben Carson issued a scathing response to the Republican Party a day after the Washington Post reported that party leaders met to discuss the possibility of a brokered convention.
In a statement, Carson slammed the “party boss insider” meeting held Monday, attended by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus, saying that meetings such as these will “destroy” the party.
The former neurosurgeon also said Donald Trump “will not be the only one” to leave the party if the “will of the people” is subverted in favor of the political establishment.
“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 the 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,” Carson said.
Carson, who has taken a nosedive in recent polls, also said he prays that the report is incorrect, adding that he “won’t stand for” discussions of this kind.
“This process is the one played out by our party. If the powerful try to manipulate it, the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next summer may be the last convention,” Carson said. “I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure Donald is. But I will not sit by and watch a theft. I intend on being the nominee. If I am not, the winner will have my support. If the winner isn’t our nominee, then we have a massive problem.”
The 2016 hopeful sits sixth in the Washington Examiner’s power rankings.
