After the delegate votes were officially counted on Tuesday evening, Donald Trump proudly announced that his nomination was historic. Though he's not entirely wrong, this type of "historic" certainly won't earn him any head nods. Missing out on over 30 percent of the delegate vote, Trump's nomination faced one of the largest opposing delegate percentages in history. According to research done by The Washington Post, the percentage of delegates supporting him is the eighth lowest in the history of the GOP.
Initially, Donald Trump Jr. cast the New York delegation votes that put his father well over the 1,237 votes required for a nomination. His enthusiastic announcement, during which he referred to Trump's campaign as a full-fledged movement, sparked cheers from the crowd.
It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates. Congratulations Dad, we love you.
Following the moment of high energy, House Speaker Paul Ryan counted the votes and confirmed the final numbers, which aren't as impressive as they may sound. Trump won the backing of 1,725 delegates. Though it seems like a large number, the pro-Trump delegates represent just less than 70 percent of the total 2,472 Republican delegates available. That many delegates haven't opposed a presumptive GOP nominee since the contested convention between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan in 1976, The Washington Post reported.
Not too long ago, that was a viable option for the 2016 convention. At one point in the race, former candidates John Kasich and Ted Cruz made an unsuccessful attempt to bring about a contested convention by joining forces to hoard votes. Though it took months for chatter over the possibility to die down, Trump was ultimately able to avoid the disorder.
Strangely enough, Trump's delegate vote percentage, which is historically low, contradicts the number of primary votes he received before being nominated. He may be a divisive candidate, but he managed to gain more primary votes than any other Republican candidate in history. In the beginning of his nomination acceptance speech, which was made from New York City, Trump made a statement regarding that fact.
Together we've achieved historic results with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican Party. This is a movement, but we have to go all the way. I'm so proud to be your nominee for President of the United States.
More than anything, the numbers are rather confusing, which conveniently illustrates the current state of the Republican Party: chaotic. Though a historic number of establishment delegates disprove of Trump, he has also inspired new voters to show up to voting booths and support the Republican Party. Inevitably, this has put the GOP into a state of flux that has created factions unlike any America has witnessed in recent decades. Now, the pressure is on the new nominee to mend those divisions as he faces Hillary Clinton in the general election.
