Barbour: Anti-Trump forces are "reconciled" to nomination
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Sunday that anti-Trump Republicans have realized that they've reached the end of the line and are "reconciled" to Donald Trump as their GOP nominee.
"I think people have realized that the Republican voters of the country have spoken," Barbour said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Donald Trump got--he was not my first choice. He got more votes in the Republican primaries than any other Republican candidate in the history of our party."
"He won a huge victory," Barbour added. "And I think people are--some people who weren't for him are reconciled to that."
The anti-Trump movement's hopes of keeping Trump from winning the nomination were dashed Friday when the convention's Rules Committee rejected a proposal to unbind delegates and allow them to vote based on personal preference rather than their state's primary results.
Addressing remaining concerns about Trump among Republicans, Barbour said his decision to add Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to the ticket will help bring skeptics on board.
"Mike Pence, the Democrats are going to try to make him out to be an ogre. And he is such a nice man," he said. "He's a gentleman. He's nice to everybody. I think the American people are going to like Mike Pence. He has been a very, very good congressman, a good governor and well-received."
As for the scores of Republican officeholders who've opted to skip the convention entirely, Barbour said anyone up for reelection this year should be campaigning in their home states this week.
"People who are running for office, they need to be where they are. We have got 24 senators who are up for reelection this year that are Republicans," he said. "And, candidly, unless Rob Portman, who is from Ohio -- for the rest of them, they are much, much better off to take this week in their own states, for their own elections."
When it comes to one notable absence, though--Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Trump's former primary rival and the governor of the state hosting the convention--Barbour said it would be "great" if Kasich would throw his support behind Trump.
"Well, you know, it would be great if John Kasich were here and if he would enthusiastically support the nominee," he said. "For me, I voted for John Kasich in our primary in Mississippi. Trump was not my first choice. But my momma used to say life is a series of choices. And if the choice is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I'm going to be for Donald Trump every time."
Barbour, who ran the convention in 1996, said there's no way Trump's support in the polls will get a "quantum leap" from the convention but that it should still provide a noticeable boost.
"It is the Republican Party's convention, but it is totally colored by the nominee," he said. "If you go back to 1996, the closest the election ever was in our polling was Wednesday night of the convention. And I think this convention will be good for Donald Trump."
