--- title: Donald Trump: Hugh Hewitt Begs GOP to Drop the Candidate description: Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday said the GOP should look to change the rules at this summer's Cleveland convention canonical: https://time.com/4361757/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump/ author: Business Insider article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-08T17:42:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:30.552Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Conservative Radio Host Hugh Hewitt Begs GOP to Drop Trump og:description: 'We're going to get killed. We're going to get killed' og:url: https://time.com/4361757/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa3a69608baf360e/69889700e20a874f9fa91269/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump-gop-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Makes Primary Night Remarks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Conservative Radio Host Hugh Hewitt Begs GOP to Drop Trump twitter:description: 'We're going to get killed. We're going to get killed' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa3a69608baf360e/69889700e20a874f9fa91269/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump-gop-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Conservative Radio Host Begs GOP to Drop Trump After 'Worst 72 Hours' in Party History > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=4c336b66-552e-4c9d-b58c-a362b149aa51&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Final Primary Night Donald Trump Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Final Primary Night Donald Trump Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3b2mSQuo.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2016-06-08. Donald Trump gives a speech on the final night of primaries._ by [Allan Smith / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Allan Smith / Business Insider Jun 8, 2016 5:42 PM UTC  U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters and the media following primary elections on June 7, 2016 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters and the media following primary elections on June 7, 2016 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. John Moore/Getty Images by [Allan Smith / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Allan Smith / Business Insider Jun 8, 2016 5:42 PM UTC Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday said the GOP should look to change the rules at this summer’s Cleveland convention so it can ditch Donald Trump as its nominee. The host came to that conclusion after what he called the worst 72 hours for the party in more than 15 years. “The worst 72 hours for the Republican Party since 2000 when the George W. Bush DUI was dropped,” [he said on his program](http://www.hughhewitt.com/), adding, “We’re going to get killed. We’re going to get killed.” Hewitt said that what the “self-savaging” party leaders inflicted on Trump after he continued to pursue a racial line of attack against a federal judge was like nothing he had ever seen. **_Business Insider_**_: ‘_[_The textbook definition of a racist comment’: Paul Ryan disavows Trump’s attacks on a federal judge_](http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-disavows-trumps-comments-2016-6) The latest Trump firestorm centered around his persistent attacks on US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel over his Mexican heritage. The Manhattan billionaire said Curiel cannot fairly preside over a civil case involving his now-defunct for-profit real estate school, Trump University, because he is of Mexican descent and Trump is “building a wall” along the US/Mexico border if elected in the fall. Curiel is from Indiana. [Republicans](http://www.businessinsider.com/mitch-mcconnell-reprimands-donald-trump-2016-6) from [all sides of the party](http://www.businessinsider.com/painful-bob-corker-interview-donald-trump-2016-6) have [publicly condemned](http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-trump-racist-curiel-judge-2016-6) the remarks and demanded that Trump change his tone. [In a Tuesday late-afternoon statement](http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-judge-attacks-statement-2016-6), Trump took a step back from the attacks but did not apologize. He made no mention of his attacks against the judge in his [prepared postprimary speech](http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-announced-speech-hillary-bill-clinton-2016-6) later that night. **_Business Insider:_** [_‘You’re going to find it very, very interesting’: Donald Trump announces he will make ‘major’ speech about the Clintons_](http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-announced-speech-hillary-bill-clinton-2016-6) “Paul Ryan had to come out and say those are racist comments,” Hewitt said. “Sen. Mark Kirk unendorsed him. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said, ‘Well, he might not be our nominee.’ Mitch McConnell hammered him. It was a day of self-savaging of the Republican nominee, I’ve never seen anything like it. And by the end of the day, it was clear: Trump’s campaign was in free-fall and on fire.” He said that Tuesday was the day when it occurred to him that Trump had no chance of winning in November. Acknowledging that Republicans have “never” defeated Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hewitt said: “We’re not going to beat her now with Donald Trump. **_Business Insider:_** [_Trump releases monumental statement on judge attacks, vows never to talk about university case again_](http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-judge-attacks-statement-2016-6) “Right now the Republican Party is facing — the plane is headed towards the mountain after the last 72 hours,” he said. Hewitt said the Republican Party “ought to get together and let the convention decide.” He called for a rules change that would inhibit Trump from becoming the party’s nominee in Cleveland. **_Business Insider:_** [_‘We are better than this’: Hillary Clinton targets Trump in soaring victory speech_](http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-historic-speech-2016-6) “And if Donald Trump pulls over a makeover in the next four to five weeks, great, they can keep him,” he said. “It would be better if he had done so five weeks ago.” Hewitt is not the first to suggest Republicans change the convention rules to stop Trump. **_Business Insider:_** [_Trump on God: ‘I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness’_](http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-on-god-i-dont-like-to-have-to-ask-for-forgiveness-2016-1) On Tuesday, the former New Jersey chairman for Ted Cruz’s 2016 White House bid [said delegates have a “moral obligation” to launch an “insurrection”](http://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-ally-calls-for-delegate-insurrection-at-rnc-2016-6) and “unbind” themselves to halt the billionaire’s rise. Moreover, a [Wall Street Journal editorial](http://www.wsj.com/articles/high-trump-anxiety-1465339652) on Wednesday suggested that if Trump “doesn’t start to act like a political leader” he could “hear rumblings that delegates are looking for someone else to nominate.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump-convention-2016-6) _originally appeared on BusinessInsider.com_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4361757/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4361757/hugh-hewitt-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Conservative Radio Host Begs GOP to Drop Trump After 'Worst 72 Hours' in Party History","datePublished":"2016-06-08T17:42:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:30.552Z","description":"'We're going to get killed. 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