When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president last summer, most news outlets and political pundits didn't give him a realistic shot at success. Fast forward 11 months later and Trump has clinched the required number of delegates to become the party's nominee, but that hasn't stopped many Republicans from planning to alter the convention.

Trump and the GOP

After Trump picked up an impressive win at the Indiana primary last month, the two remaining Republican candidates, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, both ended their campaigns within a 24-hour span.

At this point, it was inevitable that Trump would represent the GOP in the general election in November, but the party appears to be as divided as ever. According to a report in Yahoo News on June 9, top party leaders are pushing to remove Trump as the nominee at the convention in July.

"There is a rapidly moving train toward the convention to try to obstruct it at the convention," conservative journalist Erick Erickson reported, noting, "Trump in the last 72 hours has given hope to people who think it’s now possible." Erickson went on to say that conservatives have been given "hope" that Trump will be "stopped at the convention" unless he drastically "cleans up his act."

Yahoo News also spoke with conservative writer David Finch who warned that the former host of "The Apprentice" shouldn't' "take his convention nomination for granted" because there's a "limit" to what the nomination entails.

Other right-wing voices, such as radio show hosts Hugh Hewitt and Steve Deace, all continued to report that a Trump-removal was possibly on its way.

Possible replacement?

Various names have been mentioned to possibly replace Trump, with the latest being Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Heading into the 2016 election, Walker was considered one of the favorites, as the governor had close ties to right-wing billionaire donors the Koch Brothers.

Walker suspended his campaign last year after free-falling poll numbers and lack of fundraising. Yahoo News also went on to cite a report from conservative insider RedState which reported of further speculation that Walker was "open" to the idea of replacing Trump as the nominee at the convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Election outlook

Ousting Trump from the convention after he clinched the required number of delegates would be unprecedented and would surely cause a backlash among many die hard supporters. Trump has been surrounded by a constant cloud of controversy since entering the race, and his recent comments about the "Mexican" judge handling the upcoming Trump University fraud case has given new life to the possibility that hemight not even make it to a general election match-up against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED