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Anti-Trump delegates raising money into a legal defense fund ahead of RNC convention

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A growing movement of anti-Donald Trump delegates to the Republican National Convention in July announced their plan to raise funds to mount an anti-Trump campaign during the convention.

The group began with just a dozen delegates who oppose Trump but now boasts several hundred, according to the Washington Post. They hope to block Trump’s nomination next month in Cleveland by changing party rules so delegates can vote however they want on the first ballot.

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There had been previous fears that Trump wouldn’t make it as the nominee if he didn’t win on the first ballot because delegates aren’t bound by their state’s vote on the second ballot. Thus far, the effort is stacking up to be the most organized anti-Trump campaign yet. The last effort to dethrone the presumptive GOP nominee was the #NeverTrump attack, begun by online conservative activists. While it quickly gained support from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the campaign never took off and had little focus.

“As we carefully consider not only the presidential nominee but the rules of the convention, the platform of the Republican Party and the vice presidential nominee, remember that this is true reality TV – it is not entertainment,” Regina Thomson, co-founder of the group now calling itself “Free the Delegates,” said Sunday.

Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, however, insists that the delegates are bound by their party’s primaries and caucuses on the first ballot.

“Mr. Priebus needs to understand that leadership has not answered the call of the most important people in the Republican Party and that’s the conservatives. We have always been there, we’ve endured a lot of one-way loyalty,” said Dallas-based businessman Chris Eckstrom on a “Free the Delegates” conference call Sunday night. Eckstrom is a previous supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) but is now backing the efforts to disable Trump’s candidacy at the convention.

“It’s now our time and our duty to say that this is a conservative platform in the Republican Party and we simply will not abandon it,” Eckstrom continued.

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A co-founder of the group said that she plans to propose adding the “conscience clause” to the convention’s rules. Her hope is that there won’t be any confusion about what delegates can and can’t do, effectively ending any disputes.

Trump called any attempts to strip him of the nomination “totally illegal but also a rebuke of the millions of people who feel so strongly about what I am saying.” Saturday, he even accused former challengers Jeb Bush and Cruz of leading the effort to undermine his legitimacy.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever been this disappointed,” Cecil Stinemetz, a delegate from Iowa, said after receiving a strongly worded email from party leaders.

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“I cannot in good conscience vote for him,” Talmage Pearce, a GOP delegate from Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District, said in an interview.


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‘You cannot imagine my guilt’: Trump voter thought COVID-19 was a ‘hoax’ — then it swept through his family

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Two months ago, Tony Green — right-wing author and columnist for the LGBTQ website Dallas Voice — still bought into the claim that COVID-19 was a “hoax” designed to hurt President Donald Trump. But that was before he became seriously ill from it along with members of his family, and now, Green is urging others to take the pandemic seriously so that they won’t have to suffer a similar fate.

In a recent column, Green (who voted for Donald Trump in 2016) recalls that in May and early June, he was still describing the pandemic as a “scamdemic.”

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Park Police chief insists ‘tremendous restraint’ was used in violent crackdown on Lafayette Square protesters

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Park Police Chief Gregory T. Monahan testified before Congress Tuesday claiming that his agents used "tremendous restraint" when they were ordered to clear Lafayette Square for President Donald Trump's photo-op," reported the New York Times.

Monahan is coming under fire after the park police was caught using tear gas on peaceful protesters. While some antagonists threw water bottles over the fence at police, protesters had been good about stopping those individuals and working to ensure the protests were calm. Reporters with cameras were on hand observing the protesters as the Park Police advanced on horseback.

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McConnell faces backlash from his own party after unveiling GOP’s coronavirus relief proposal

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After unveiling their latest coronavirus aid package which slashes the federal benefit from $600 per week in addition to state unemployment to $200, Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans are finding themselves on the receiving end of backlash from members of their own party, Reuters reports.

While Democrats have rejected the package, saying that it falls short, some Republicans also offered their own criticisms, calling the plan too costly.

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