Following GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s big win in New York on Tuesday, the Republican establishment may be changing its tune on the real estate mogul.
“There are a fair number of RNC members who were discounting his chances of success when we met in January and now see that he’s building a substantial lead and may in fact get to 1,237 before we get to the convention,” said New Hampshire RNC member Steve Duprey.
“The New York results were such an overwhelming win,” Duprey added. “It’s impressive. That’s what I’ve heard people talking about.”
According to Reuters, “RNC members said Trump could help improve the climate by taking steps to end the bad blood that has developed between him and the committee’s leadership, including RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.”
They also said Trump should end the divisive rhetoric, calling the Republican primary system rigged.
“I think it’s time for that rhetoric to end,”Chairman of the Montana GOP Jeff Essmann said.
South Carolina GOP Chairman Matt Moore praised the Trump campaign’s hiring of Republican insider Rick Wiley, who had served as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign manager.
“It’s a positive signal despite a lack of general outreach over the past year, and I think the Trump campaign, for all the bluster, recognizes that the RNC will be an integral partner if he is the nominee and it’ll be almost impossible to win the presidency without the RNC as a partner,” Moore explained.
Officials from the Trump campaign plan to meet with GOP leaders in several states that are holding their primaries over the next few weeks: Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland.