BREAKING NEWS: Carson threatens to bolt from the GOP if party leaders manipulate convention

GOP presidential contender Ben Carson said Friday he would consider bolting from the party if Republican leaders try to steer the party’s nomination toward a candidate of their liking in a “brokered” convention.

Mr. Carson’s warning followed a report in The Washington Post that said establishment leaders are growing increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s hard-charging bid for the GOP nomination.

The Post reported that GOP officials and establishment figures shared their concerns with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus at a dinner and urged him to be prepared to lay groundwork for the possibility of a floor fight at the convention if Mr. Trump performs well in the primaries, but not well enough to wrap up the nomination in a first-ballot vote.

That scenario would open the door to a “brokered” convention, where the establishment could coalesce around an alternative to Mr. Trump, the report said.

Mr. Priebus did not endorse the idea, The Post reported.

“If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party,” Mr. Carson said in a statement Friday.

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