Are there actual legitimate rules/criteria written down to remove a Presidential candidate?

[Siwsan]

Something agreed on and documented, by a committee??

I seriously doubt Trump would ever drop out, without first being hit with a stun gun and then forcefully medicated.

So what are the options open to the Republican Party?

BTW, I'm picturing the end scene from the movie "Frankenstein" but I think that is likely out of the question.

[kestrel91316]

1. Pretty sure the answer is no. I doubt it ever occurred

to anybody in the Republican Party that they would nominate a dangerous madman.

We on the left knew they would some day, of course, but they never asked for our opinion.

[Siwsan]

4. He is starting to remind me of a Nero/Caligula hybrid.

[MFM008]

9. yes and neither

ended well...............

[geek tragedy]

2. Trump could maybe withdraw but otherwise they're stuck with him nt

[Warren Stupidity]

3. No. The candidate is Trump. End of story.

[Wednesdays]

8. They've already printed the ballots in several states, I'm sure.

Can't put that genie back into its bottle.

[Hekate]

5. You'll have to research it. Hubby was telling me earlier today he heard someone intelligent say Yes

....That there is language from the Platform (?) Committee stating that if necessary the Party can remove and replace the nominee.

I thought that was intriguing as hell -- but when I asked him just now if he could remember exactly who said that, he couldn't retrieve the source.

So for those who are sufficiently curious, I advise research.

[Siwsan]

6. I've been searching, but can't find out they could drop him, as their candidate

They can withhold funding. They can refuse to endorse and they can disavow him as the candidate but nothing about actually kicking him off of the ticket.

Of course, even if they could, I suspect that would open up a whole new can of worms, for them, because IMHO, a good portion of his supporters are bat guano insane and would likely explode in violence.

[Hekate]

7. Trump is already positing a rigged election, his loss, and "blood in the streets"

Whatta guy.

[Agnosticsherbet]

10. No, thee are no rules or options. He could resign. That is about their only option.

But it may be too late, depending on the state, to even change the name on the ballot

[Onlooker]

11. There's always a way ...

... Since party rules are not regulated by federal law, one presumes that if candidate really started to act indisputably insane (took off his clothes in public, for instance), a party could convene, amend is rules, and remove a candidate. But, to get away with that, the candidate's behavior would probably have to be well outside the social norms. As awful as Trump is, sadly his behavior is not that far outside the social norms as his poll numbers show.

[sofa king]

12. The answer would be in here, somewhere:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf

Rule No. 8 specifies that the Committee must meet at least three times a year, and that an agenda must be sent out 10 days in advance, except to fill a vacancy for President, in which case the agenda can go out five days in advance. The Chairman can call a meeting at any time.

Rule No. 9 is the important one. Once a vacancy occurs, the Committee can forego a do-over convention and pick their own candidate, which is exactly what they want, so that they can dodge the knuckledraggers and Ted Cruz.

At a glance, it does not appear as if the Committee has a provision to remove a candidate, but I'll bet you anything that they can change the rules to add that, whenever they wish. We are, after all, speaking about the Party that specializes in breaking rules.

But they won't need it.

Many of you aren't buying it yet, but convincing Trump to leave is the easy part. The short version is that espionage laws are specifically designed to quickly roll over tattletales by promising the same life-in-prison punishment no matter how tangental a person's role, so if Trump knew anything about it, he's on the hook for all of it. He's acting like he knows a lot.

But if Trump leaves, the national security threat effectively goes away, and he might not have to do time. There's no statute of limitations on espionage, so it can hang over him forever, ensuring that he never comes back. It's a win-win for America and for his disgusting self.

Someone already planned an easy week for him, so he can sit on the toilet and fail to tweet his ass out of this for two days. Then he'll take the deal.

If he listens to his handlers at all, they'll have him announce his resignation either this Friday afternoon or next. The RNC will have his replacement in the news by the end of the month.