Republican officials and rival campaigns mocked Donald Trump’s continuing claims that the Republican presidential primary race has been rigged, saying Sunday that the tycoon’s poor showings in Colorado and Wyoming had more to do with his incompetence than party corruption.
Former Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, said Mr. Trump cannot change the rules of the game just because he is winning the delegate race and compared the reality TV star’s campaign to a football team that wants a touchdown for making it to the 20 yard line.
“You know, football teams don’t get to get in the red zone and then demand a touchdown and then cry about it when you don’t give them one,” Mr. Cuccinelli said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But that’s what we’re dealing with the Trump campaign. Lots of football teams get in the red zone and lose.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who trails the Republican presidential primary field, likened Mr. Trump’s rhetoric to the whining of a schoolboy who blames the grading system after blowing a test.
“You know, it’s like saying, ’I made an 83 on my math test, so I should get an A, just because I think it’s rigged that you need to make a 90 to get an A,’” Mr. Kasich said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I mean, come on. Act like, you know. You’re a professional. Be a pro.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus slammed Mr. Trump’s speech.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump reveals new nickname for Hillary Clinton — ‘Crooked’
“I find it to be rhetoric and hyperbole. I think everyone understands these rules have been in place for years, these plans have been released since October of last year,” Mr. Priebus told CNN. “There are a few states that pick delegates by convention. It’s their choice how they allocate delegates.”
He said the RNC is not involved in how each state selects its delegates for the national convention.
“They’re not RNC rules,” Mr. Priebus said. “Each individual state determines how they’re going to allocate their delegates. So it’s up to the campaigns to know the rules and compete within each of those states within the rules.”
On the heels of his disappointing finish in Colorado, Mr. Trump last week said the Republican National Committee “should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this kind of crap to happen.”
“You know, the system, folks, is rigged. It’s a rigged system,” he told a rally in New York. “Now, you have to understand, I’m not complaining about the states that I won. Those are OK.”
He accused Mr. Cruz of not playing by the rules.
Mr. Trump’s boosters on Sunday doubled down on those talking points. Despite establishment opposition, they said, Mr. Trump will win the party’s nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in July.
“By the end of this month, in the next two weeks, Donald Trump will add an additional 200 delegates to his total,” Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He is the presumptive front-runner right now. He is the presumptive front-runner going forward. And Ted Cruz is going to be mathematically eliminated from securing 1,237 delegates by next Tuesday.”
Paul Manafort, who last month was hired as Mr. Trump’s convention manager, said all of the delegate drama will be much ado about nothing when Mr. Trump secures the majority over the next two months.
“The real issue is there’s not going to be a second ballot,” Mr. Manafort said on ABC’s “This Week.” “As your colleague just said, there are many paths to 1,237 [delegates] for Donald Trump between now and the middle of June, not July. And we’re working all of those paths.
“Because what this election has shown is that when voters participate, Donald Trump wins,” he said.
Asked for evidence of foul play, Mr. Manafort said the Cruz campaign is “not playing by their own rules.”
“They are because they’ve had to muscle things,” he said.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.