Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Snub DeSantis, Ramaswamy With Summit With 2024 Candidates Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum
- Sen. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Paul Ryan host a summit focused on finding an alternative to Trump
- Among those attending the two-day, closed-door summit are Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum
- Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is in the top five, said summits like E2 with Romney and Ryan are what’s “wrong with the broken GOP.”
The two men who were on the 2012 Republican presidential ticket are holding a closed-door event with some 2024 candidates — but conspicuously absent from the lineup are Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Sen. Mitt Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan are hosting a two-day summit in Park City, Utah aimed at finding an alternative to Donald Trump who will win the GOP nomination next year.
The candidates at the forum on Tuesday and Wednesday are former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Other speakers include Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R) and former House Speaker Paul Ryan (L), who ran together on the 2012 GOP presidential ticket, are hosting the 11th annual summit in Utah this week
The main focus this year is finding — and eventually funding — an alternative candidate to Trump
While Haley consistently polls toward the top of the pack, the other three candidates are still considered distant.
The E2 Summit, which is in its 11th year this year, focuses primarily on discussions on foreign policy, technology and business.
The annual gathering, however, is a powerful gathering of coordinated and well-connected Republicans who want to find — and ultimately fund — an alternative to Trump.
Summit conductor Spencer Zwick said those hosting and attending the summit do not accept the assumption that former President Donald Trump will automatically be the 2024 nominee.
“(They don’t) just accept that Donald Trump is the candidate,” he said to Axios.
“That’s not in their DNA,” Zwick added. “They’re genuinely interested in a candidate they can get excited about and get behind.”
Trump is by far the highest-polling GOP candidate and is tipped to eventually win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, as none of the other 11 candidates in the race come close to closing the gap.
Among those taking part in the two-day, closed-door summit are former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (left) and former Vice President Mike Pence (right)
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who consistently polls the top five candidates, said summits like E2 with Romney and Ryan are what’s “wrong with the broken GOP.”
For a time, DeSantis had an early lead over the rest of the field that many believed was the only one who might give Trump a run for his money. But in recent months, his polling has fallen, and some polls even have him fifth in line.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is unhappy about not being invited to the Romney and Ryan summit.
“Here’s a radical idea: voters should decide who the candidate is, instead of Super PACs or closed donor summits,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He added: “This represents everything that is wrong with the broken GOP.”
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