The Republican National Committee has reportedly conducted a series of meetings with Washington insiders, lobbyist and business leaders — the very people Trump scorned during the primaries — as GOP leaders look to craft the party’s platform ahead of its national convention in July.
According to the report, the RNC has organized close to 10 gatherings with members of the business establishment who continue to harbor concerns about Donald Trump’s positions on trade and taxes and the threats he’s made against companies who’ve outsourced American jobs. But those who participated in the discussions claimed Trump’s name rarely came up and instead, RNC officials seemed determined to assemble a platform that appeals to the business community.
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“They were not speaking about the nominee,” one attendee said. “That’s what they control.”
“No reasonable Republican thinks the platform has any real heft, and hardly [anyone] expects that it’ll be something that Trump will care enough about to abide,” said a Republican strategist, who also attended one of the meetings.
A healthcare lobbyist who participated in one of the gatherings said the RNC is likely reaching out because “they don’t want people like us bitching about the platform.”
“This process was designed to engage everyone from the grassroots level to top industry leaders,” RNC spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said of the closed-door meetings. “It is our responsibility to ensure that the platform process is inclusive.”
