(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Ohio, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who teamed up for the failed GOP’s 2012 presidential ticket, hosted Tuesday a behind-close-door party of long-shot, anti-Trump candidates in a bid to secure donor support for their unlikely presidential campaigns.
The private meeting, which the Washington Post first reported, drew prominent figures known for their hatred of former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner.
🚨 BREAKING: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to host hand-picked Presidential candidates at an influential donor summit.
Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Doug Burgum will all address potential backers in closed-door sessions.
Does this disqualify these candidates? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/m6tTlgDA3H
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) October 10, 2023
Among those in attendance were former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum—all of whom are polling in single digits, according to FiveThirtyEight.
This gathering also dubbed the “E2 Summit,” was initially conceived by Romney before he ran for the U.S. Senate but was subsequently handed over to Ryan in 2019.
🇺🇲 NEW NATIONAL POLL
PRES:
(R) Trump 45% (+1)
(D) Biden 44%
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GOP PRES:
Trump 59% (+46)
DeSantis 13%
Ramaswamy 7%
Pence 6%
Haley 6%
Scott 2%
Christie 2%
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• @wearebigvillage (B-) | 9/29-10/3
• 2,207 LV (Pres) | 853 LV (GOP Pres)https://t.co/NJgz1KwKJr pic.twitter.com/TLTGLlQWpL— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) October 10, 2023
Spencer Zwick, Romney’s former finance chair, admitted in statements to the Post that the gathering is aimed at thwarting Trump’s changes ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
“To pretend like Donald Trump isn’t looming over the presidential primary would be would be foolish — they understand that. But this group is not just going to sit back and say, ‘Okay, well, let’s just accept that Donald Trump’s going to be the nominee,’” Zwick said.
He added, “If people in this room, and at this gathering, start to really get behind one or two of these candidates. You’re going to see some real movement in the polls. … At some point, and hopefully in the not too distant future, we can start to coalesce around a smaller group of candidates.”
Meanwhile, Burgum, who also attended the meeting, started begging for $1 donations from potential supporters in exchange for a $20 gift card as part of a desperate effort to qualify for the third Nov. 8 GOP debate.
On the other hand, Trump pledged not to participate in any further debates and instead urged the RNC to cancel all upcoming debates, advocating for the party to rally behind his candidacy as the clear frontrunner.
