Trump pushes ‘Trump-a-palooza’ midterm convention as GOP braces for tough elections

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is taking a big step toward holding its first-ever midterm convention.

The RNC on Friday approved a change to the party’s rules that would allow Chair Joe Gruters to convene a convention during a midterm election year.

National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years.

But with Republicans aiming to protect their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in this year’s elections, President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a convention ahead of the midterms “in order to show the great things we have done” since recapturing the White House.

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The full RNC membership, meeting Friday during the confab’s general session, approved the rule change in a unanimous vote.

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And speaking with reporters on Friday, Gruters called the convention a “Trump-a-palooza” where “we can really highlight all the incredible things that this president has done.”

But the president’s approval ratings remain well underwater, with many Americans giving him a big thumbs down on the job he’s doing with the economy and the issue of affordability.

The party in power, in this case the Republicans, normally faces stiff political headwinds in the midterms. And the hope among Trump and top Republicans is that a midterm convention would give the GOP a high-profile platform to showcase the president’s record and their congressional candidates running in the midterms.

Details on the date and location of the midterm convention will come at a later date and will likely be announced by the president.

Democrats held a handful of midterm conventions in the 1970s and 1980s.