Gov. Rauner Won't Endorse Trump Or Attend The Republican Convention

By Mae Rice in News on May 6, 2016 3:55PM

Illinois governor Bruce Rauner last February in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Gov. Bruce Rauner won't formally endorse likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, or attend July's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Rauner aides told reporters.

Back in March, Rauner told reporters that as the head of Illinois' GOP, he would "support the Republican Party's nominee for president" and "do everything... to work with that nominee."

However, Trump isn't the nominee yet, so Rauner hasn't contradicted himself yet, either.

Rauner has previously said of the rhetoric of the Republican presidential race, "it's ugly and it's nasty and it's weird," the Tribune reports.

Rauner may be skipping the Cleveland convention because he doesn't want to be photographed with Trump (as the Tribune hypothesized), or because he needs to focus on Illinois' ongoing budget (the Sun-Times' guess).