State GOP chair drops all pretense of neutrality, tells Reno rally to caucus for Trump

For months, staff from Republican presidential campaigns and other observers have criticized the Nevada State Republican Party’s presidential caucus, arguing the state party deliberately designed and scheduled the Feb. 8 contest to assure Donald Trump wins Nevada’s delegates to the Republican National Convention.

And for months, state party chair Michael McDonald has denied the allegations.

But at a rally for Trump in Reno Sunday, McDonald abandoned all pretense and confirmed what critics have been saying all along.

“February 8th,” McDonald shouted while introducing Trump at the rally, which was broadcast on CSPAN. “Mark your calendars. That’s the day you show up to caucus for Donald J. Trump.”

“You come out to your location, you walk in with your neighbors, you sit with your neighbors and tell them how great Donald Trump is. And then you cast your ballot for Donald J. Trump.”

Several other Republicans also filed to compete against Trump in the state-run caucus, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

McDonald also told the crowd to ignore the Republican primary on Feb. 6, which must be held under state statute.

Trump’s name will not be on the state Republican primary ballot, because Trump didn’t file to compete in it.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is one of three candidates with name recognition who initially filed for the Republican primary. The other two, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, dropped out of the race earlier this year.

Political parties are allowed to determine how delegates to the convention are awarded, in accordance with national party rules and practices. McDonald declared early on that delegates to the convention would only be allowed for candidates who participate in the caucus, not the primary.

Nevada is the third state in the Republican presidential nominating process, after Iowa and New Hampshire, but has received scant attention from any of the candidates, in part because of the confusion caused by the party holding a caucus even though the state must hold a primary.

McDonald’s endorsement of Trump Sunday will likely make Nevada’s Republican presidential contests even less enticing to other candidates or national media.

Earlier this month, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford indicted McDonald and the five other Nevada Republicans who attempted to award Nevada’s electoral college votes to Trump as part of a coordinated attempt made by the Trump re-election campaign and allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Joe Biden won the 2020 election in Nevada by more than 33,000 votes. Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, reviewed election fraud and irregularity allegations lodged by McDonald and other Nevada Republicans and found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.