Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are hosting a summit with 2024 candidates Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum, WITHOUT DeSantis and Ramaswamy
- Senator Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Paul Ryan are hosting a summit aimed at finding an alternative to Trump
- Attendees at the two-day closed-door summit include Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum
- Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is in the top five in the polls, said summits like E2 with Romney and Ryan are what’s “wrong with the broken Republican.”
The two men who were nominated for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 are hosting a closed event with some 2024 candidates — but Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy are conspicuously absent from the lineup.
Sen. Mitt Romney and his former vice president Paul Ryan are hosting the two-day summit in Park City, Utah, with the goal of finding an alternative to Donald Trump’s win of the GOP nomination next year.
The candidates at the forum on Tuesday and Wednesday are former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Other speakers include Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
Ryan said on CNBC Tuesday that all “unindicted” candidates were welcome, but DeSantis and Ramaswamy were not present.
Sen. Mitt Romney (right) and former House Speaker Paul Ryan (left), who ran together for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, are hosting their 11th annual summit in Utah this week
The main focus this year is finding – and ultimately funding – an alternative candidate to Trump
While Haley continues to move to the top of the field in the polls, the other three candidates are still considered to be at the bottom.
The E2 summit, which is in its 11th year this year, focuses primarily on discussions on foreign policy, technology and economics.
But the annual meeting is a powerful gathering of thoughtful and well-connected Republicans who want to find — and ultimately fund — an alternative to Trump.
Summit maestro Spencer Zwick said those hosting and attending the summit do not accept the assumption that former President Donald Trump will automatically be the nominee in 2024.
‘[They] Don’t just accept that Donald Trump is the nominee,” he told Axios.
“It’s not in their DNA,” Zwick added. “They are genuinely interested in a candidate they are passionate about and can get behind.”
Trump is by far the highest polled Republican candidate and is expected to ultimately secure the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, as none of the other eleven candidates in the race come close to closing the gap close.
Attendees at the two-day closed-door summit include former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (left) and former Vice President Mike Pence (right).
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who regularly polls the top five candidates, said summits like E2 with Romney and Ryan are what’s “wrong with the broken Republican.”
For a while, DeSantis had an early lead over the rest of the field, leading many to think he was the only one who could potentially give Trump a run for his money. But in recent months his poll numbers have declined and in some polls he is even in fifth place.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is not happy about the lack of an invitation to the Romney-Ryan summit.
“Here’s a radical idea: Voters should decide who the candidate is, not super PACs or closed-door mega-donor summits,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He added: “This highlights everything that is wrong with the broken Republican Party.”