DENVER — Republican Donald Trump has some fences to mend with Colorado conservatives, and he began Friday by speaking their language on hot-button issue like gun rights, religious freedom and Obamacare.
In his first campaign appearance in swing-state Colorado, Mr. Trump touted his endorsement by the National Rifle Association, his relationship with prominent evangelical leaders and his determination to “repeal and replace Obamacare.”
“You have some terrific people in the state, very smart, very good, and they’re going to be really helping us in November and before November. I know how hard they’re working in Colorado,” said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. “I think we’re going to have a tremendous victory here.”
At the same time, it was clear he still has work to do. The ballroom at the Colorado Convention Center seats about 3,100 but less than two-thirds of the seats were filled, even though 4,000 people are registered to attend the three-day Western Conservative Summit.
“Look, it was a tough campaign. It was a brutal campaign. Some of the people that do this professionally said it was the most brutal campaign in the history of politics in this country,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but we started off with 17 people. And there were a lot of bad things said, and there was one person that came out, and I understand, I understand. But they were really nasty to me and I was really nasty to them.”
One reason for his tense relationship with Colorado Republicans stems from the bitter primary fight here in April, in which he raised the ire of Colorado Republicans by blasting the state caucuses as a “rigged system” after losing all 34 delegates to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Cruz supporters countered that the Trump campaign was poorly manned and apparently unfamiliar with the caucus rules, but Mr. Trump’s remarks Friday indicated that the billionaire real-estate mogul is still smarting over the defeat.
“The system is rigged, and we went through the primary system, and we did have problems here because there wasn’t a vote. And somebody said I did really well in the polls, and as soon as they saw how well I did in the polls, they went to a delegate system where they just appointed delegates,” Mr. Trump said.
At the same time, he said, “It’s all right. It all worked out well. You know what in the end, it doesn’t matter. Here we are now.”
Colorado Republican Party chairman Steve House was clearly ready to move on, praising Mr. Trump in a warm introduction, while the crowd gave him a standing ovation after his nearly one-hour speech.
Centennial Institute director Jeff Hunt received huge applause after asking, “Is Colorado Trump country?” The seventh annual event is sponsored by the conservative think tank at Colorado Christian University.
Mr. Trump drew cheers for his vow to cut taxes, eliminate job-killing regulations, abolish Common Core, fight Islamic State terrorism and appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which is now short-handed after the death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia.
“Some of them [conservatives] just can’t understand the importance of a victory for the Republicans, and one of the best things we can say is the judges,” Mr. Trump said, adding that the next president could appoint anywhere from three to five justices.
“But that’s the difference between having our country as a great country, and Venezuela,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s speech drew several hundred protesters outside the convention center, resulting in at least three arrests by Denver police after some demonstrators began pushing and shoving. A coalition of progressive groups built a nine-foot wall at nearby Civic Center Park to symbolize their opposition to his promise to erect a wall along the Southern border.
The Affordable Care Act is particularly unpopular in Colorado, where the state-run exchange is anticipating another year of double-digit premium increases and nearly 100,000 cancellations.
Mr. Trump warned that the Obama administration is trying to downplay the increases on the federal exchange until after November.
“They’re trying to delay the increase until after the election. We can’t let that happen,” the New York businessman said. “Because this increase is an election-changing increase.”
Mr. Trump blasted presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying Middle Eastern terrorists have “dreams at night” about her becoming president.
“They want her to get in so badly. The last person they want to see become president of the United States is Donald Trump,” he said.
The candidate also said he plans to campaign heavily in states not necessarily friendly to Republicans, such as Illinois and Michigan, as well as swing states like Colorado, which backed President Obama in the last two elections.
“Colorado, we’ve got to win this one. And we do have to win Colorado,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ll be back a lot, don’t worry about it. I’ll be back a lot.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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