The Colorado protest organized by frustrated supporters of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump didn’t quite live up to the hype.
Local news footage showed that between 100 and 200 Trump fans gathered outside the Colorado state capitol Friday to denounce last weekend’s GOP convention results, which saw Texas Sen. Ted Cruz win all 34 delegates.
The crowd fell fall short of the thousands predicted after Mr. Trump denounced the Colorado Republican Party last week for what he described as a “rigged” and “crooked” process.
Delegates elected at the March 1 caucuses competed for the 34 delegate slots at last weekend’s convention in Colorado Springs, which was attended by about 4,000 Republicans, but Trump backers insisted they were disenfranchised.
During the protest, they chanted “stop the steal” and waved signed with messages like, “Cruz stole my vote!”
“We will demand that every delegate from Colorado be thrown out at convention because they’re Trojan Horse delegates and they don’t belong,” said Jim Baker, a former Trump campaign worker, at the rally on video posted on Fox31 Denver.
In nearby Greenwood Village, an estimated 50 to 70 people held a competing rally to show support for the Colorado Republican Party outside its headquarters. State party chairman Steve House has received death threats since the convention in Colorado Springs from irate Trump supporters.
Mr. Trump said last week that Colorado Republicans were “picketing and going wild” over the Cruz sweep, which Cruz supporters attributed to the Trump campaign’s failure to understand the caucus rules and put together a ground game.
“We are concerned about that because when you are exercising your political rights you should be able to do so without threats or intimidation,” Jimmy Sengenberger, who helped organize the pro-GOP rally, told Fox31.
Mr. Cruz spoke at the Colorado GOP convention, while Mr. Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not.
“This whole thing has become a joke, a bit of a laughingstock,” said KNUS-AM’s Steve Kelley on Friday’s show.
Mr. Kelley also said that 37 percent of the Republican votes in the GOP caucuses and primaries so far have gone to Mr. Trump, but he has 45 percent of the delegates.
“If the system is rigged, it’s rigged in your favor, Trump protesters,” Mr. Kelley said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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