Governors and senators from Republican Party fixtures are staying away from the July GOP convention with excuses that are a politician's version of the 'dog ate my homework.'
"I can watch it on TV," Lindsey Graham told
The New York Times. "More important things to do at home," a spokesman for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said.
Scheduling conflicts are at an all-time high, the Times reports.
Party unity? Party immunity is more like it.
Prominent senators like John McCain, Kelly Ayotte and Mark Kirk, among others, are skipping, fearful of how their association to Trump might impact their own hotly-contested re-election bids, the Times reports.
Ohio's Rob Portman, another endangered Republican senator, will be in Cleveland, but told the Times he's planning to hold his own mini-convention.
"I've spoken at every convention since 1996,' Portman said. "Nobody listens, nobody covers it."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who dropped out of the primary last month, said he'll be in Cleveland, he's just not sure what his role will be at the convention. He's one of nine GOP governors who, like him, are non-committal or not attending, according to the Times.
Included in that list: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a popular punching bag of Trump's recently.
However, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is going and will lead her delegation at the convention, the Times reports. Trump recently attacked Martinez, who has yet to endorse the presumptive nominee but has been critical of his policies toward Hispanics.
Every convention, regardless of party, is designed to be the unifying moment after a hard-fought primary season; a time when the nominee brings together the party with focused goal of winning the general election.
Mitt Romney did that in 2012, and won 93 percent of his own party. Trump's support among Republicans is at 86 percent, according to an
NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.