Robert Jeffress Predicts 'Massive Boycott' of Republican Party If Donald Trump Loses
Texas megachurch leader Robert Jeffress warned that the Republican Party will face a massive boycott if they do not nominate current frontrunner Donald Trump.
Recently, Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich announced an alliance to attempt to prevent Trump from getting the necessary number of delegates to secure the presidential nomination.
In an interview on the Fox Business channel earlier this week, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas argued that Cruz and Kasich's strategy was "distasteful."
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"66 percent of Republicans say they believe whoever comes to Cleveland with the most delegates and votes should win and that would be Donald Trump," said Jeffress.
"And I'm going to predict that if the establishment somehow wrestles this nomination away from Trump, even though the rules allow for it, I think you're going to see a massive boycott."
Jeffress went on to state that he was "not saying it should be that way, but I predict that's what's going to happen."
"The people Trump has energized are people outside of the Republican system. Many of them ... are people who have sat on the sidelines in the last four to eight years," continued Jeffress.
"They're coming into this because they are excited about Trump and I think that they're going to sit out. I think that's a very real possibility."
Jeffress' comments to Fox Business come as many Republicans, including religious conservatives, have sworn that they will never vote for Trump even if his opponent is Hillary Clinton.
Commonly known as the #NeverTrump movement, some leaders within this cause have openly considered supporting either a contested convention for the GOP or even a third party candidate.
A longtime supporter of the Trump campaign in the past, Jeffress has referred to Republicans who say they will never vote for The Donald as "fools."
"It is absolutely foolish to do anything that would allow Hillary Clinton to become the next President of the United States … at least Donald Trump has voiced a belief in a pro-life movement, he has at least talked about religious liberty as he did last Friday, you don't hear either things coming from the lips of Hillary Clinton," stated Jeffress in early March interview with The Christian Post.
"I believe any Christian who would sit at home and not vote for the Republican nominee … that person is being motivated by pride rather than principle and I think it would be a shame for people to allow Hillary Clinton four or eight years in the White House."
In response to Jeffress' comment, author and talk radio host Michael Brown penned an open letter where he took issue both with Jeffress' trust in Trump's current conservative positions and his claim that principle is not connected to the #NeverTrump movement.
"When it comes to the issue of pragmatism, both Cruz and Rubio have consistently polled better against Hillary than Trump (Trump's unlikability numbers are off the charts), so it could be argued that a vote for Trump today is a vote for Hillary tomorrow," wrote Brown.
"Even if Trump did secure the Republican nomination, some would still argue against voting for him based on both principle and pragmatism. Principle, because they cannot do so in good conscience."
Jeffress' comments come as Cruz and Kasich forge an uneasy alliance to deprive Trump of the necessary delegate count to secure the Republican nomination for president.
"With the pact, the two candidates agreed to cede forthcoming primary contests to each other," explained the New York Times.
"Mr. Kasich would, most crucially, stand down in Indiana's primary on May 3 to give Mr. Cruz a better chance to defeat Mr. Trump there, while Mr. Cruz would leave Oregon and New Mexico to Mr. Kasich."
