As his party prepares to formally nominate Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus delivered an impassioned appeal for party members to close ranks and work to defeat Hillary Clinton.
"Now is the time to stand united as Republicans," Priebus said in a speech Wednesday to the party's leadership gathered in Cleveland ahead of next week's national convention. "Now is the time to stop Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump."
"Let's not lose sight of the stakes of this election," he told the RNC's 168 members a few blocks from where Trump is expected to accept the party's nomination on July 21. "Either we keep traveling down the road of big government failure, or set a new course for an America that is strong and as confident, more than ever before."
Priebus spoke the afternoon before the party's Rules Committee is set to meet starting Thursday. Anti-Trump delegates are trying to change party rules ahead of the convention so that delegates who are bound by election results to back Trump for the nomination can "vote their conscience."
Critics of the effort say that the plan lacks the votes it needs and would thwart the will of about 13.3 million people who backed Trump in the party's primaries and caucuses.
