Carson joins Trump in threatening to leave GOP

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Ben Carson slammed the Republican National Convention after reports that RNC officials and members of the party establishment are preparing for a floor fight at next year's nominating convention.

Carson reacted Friday to a Washington Post story about a meeting between RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and members of the GOP establishment. Priebus, as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged the possibility of a deadlocked convention if delegates fail to elect a party nominee on the first ballot.

"If the leaders of the Republican Party want to destroy the party, they should continue to hold meetings like the one described in the Washington Post this morning," Carson said in a statement released Friday by his campaign, threatening that Donald Trump may not be the only one in danger of leaving the GOP.

Politico reported Trump has mused a third-party run in recent weeks as backlash continues over his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

"I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure is Donald," Carson said. "But I will not sit by and watch a theft."

The term "brokered convention" describes what would ensue if no nominee is chosen in the first ballot vote at the convention. Typically, delegates are bound to go on to support the candidate they choose at primaries or state conventions, but only if a party nominee is chosen. If not, there will be a second ballot -- or third, fourth, possibly fifth -- until a nominee is chosen. Winning over delegates during those subsequent votes is where the brokering comes in.

"I don't think it's going to be a brokered convention," Trump told the Post last week. "But if it is, I'd certainly go all the way -- and I think I'd have a certain disadvantage."

The last time the GOP had a brokered nominating convention was in 1976 when Ronald Reagan challenged then-president Gerald Ford.