The Nevada Republican Party is making an exception to its rules to back former President Donald Trump, who is now a convicted felon, in his bid for reelection.
Article 16 of the Nevada GOP’s bylaws states that they “shall neither recognize nor support any candidate for public office who has been convicted of a felony or, while serving in a public office, was impeached and convicted or removed from office for any reason.”
Michael McDonald, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, confirmed the announcement. In a text message, McDonald wrote that Nevada’s GOP would rally behind Trump as the presumptive nominee for Republicans, saying that the GOP board had met to make the exception to its bylaws.
After Trump’s hush money conviction on May 31, McDonald said, “The NVGOP reiterates our full support and endorsement for Donald J Trump to replace Joe Biden as the 47th President of the United States.”
The waiver has yet to be ratified with a two-thirds majority vote of members and delegates present at Nevada’s GOP convention or through the Nevada Republican Central Committee.
McDonald is a Trump loyalist, having shown support for the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee during his Las Vegas rally in January. “When I talked to the president, I said, ‘I guarantee you Nevada will show up,” McDonald said as he introduced Trump. “We will deliver you 100% of delegates for the state of Nevada.”
Critics slammed McDonald’s decision to award delegates solely through Nevada’s Republican caucus, a move that eliminated nearly all competition from the race and led to a sweeping Trump victory. McDonald claimed Nevada’s lack of voter ID laws motivated the caucus. “If we had voter ID, there wouldn’t be a need for a caucus,” the chairman said.
Top pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. has confirmed it will target Nevada and other swing states with over $100 million in targeted advertising for this election cycle.
The latest polling shows Trump leading President Joe Biden by 5% in Nevada. In 2020, Biden won Nevada by a slim margin, taking the Silver State with 50.1% to Trump’s 47.7%.
