Sources say Trump may offer GOP State of the Union response — campaign denies claim: report

Nearly three weeks ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, according to an exclusive Thursday, February 15 NBC News report, several sources say former President Donald Trump may offer the "official Republican response."

However, NBC reports, "A source familiar with the planning of the State of the Union address said there has been no outreach by the Trump campaign to those planning the GOP rebuttal."

One GOP lawmaker told the news outlet the move wouldn't "make any sense." The Republican leader added, "I genuinely got the sense there was not a lot of interest there to begin with."

READ MORE: Trump wants to 'take over RNC treasury' because he’s 'out of money': ex-White House official

If the former president does make the address, NBC reports, "the risks are significant, and could outweigh the potential benefits," noting, "Nothing smacks of Washington politics more than the official out-of-power party response to the State of the Union. That’s at odds with Trump’s message that, as much as he understands the nature of politics in the nation’s capital, he is not a creature of what he calls 'The Swamp.'"

Jason Miller, the Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller slammed the idea, telling NBC that "there’s no substance to chatter about Trump becoming the first former president to deliver an official response."

He emphasized, "This is complete bulls---, and proves the fake news will literally run anything based on their own imaginations."

Ultimately, NBC reports, "The decision on who will deliver the response rests with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky."

READ MORE: Why Trumpified RNC 'shakeup' could imperil GOP state committees: report

NBC News' full report is available at this link.