A top aide of Donald Trump’s accused Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz’s[/crscore] campaign of using “gestapo tactics” in their efforts to win delegates at county conventions.
The race for the Republican nomination has intensified as campaigns are now focused on processes such as getting favorable delegates selected to serve on committees and attend the national convention. The Cruz campaign has been effective in securing the support of delegates. This past weekend the Texas senator got all 21 delegates up for grabs at Colorado’s state convention.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s convention manager, was asked by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd about whether the campaign acknowledges failures in efforts related to securing delegates. “I acknowledge that we weren’t playing in Colorado and they did. I acknowledge that they’ve taken an approach to some of the county conventions where they taken scorched-earth policy and they don’t care about the party if they don’t get what they want – they blow it up,” Manafort said on “Meet The Press.”
“You go to these county conventions and you see the “gestapo tactics,” Manafort added. “We’re going to be filing several protests, because the reality is they aren’t playing by the rules.”
Manafort is longtime political consultant and former colleague of Roger Stone, Todd confronted Manafort about whether Stone’s claim that he will release the hotel room numbers of delegates is fair.
“Roger is not an official part of the campaign,” Manafort said.
There are very few rules regarding delegates as they are private citizens not involved in a government election. This means you could legally pay for their convention fees. Manafort was asked whether the Trump campaign would be willing to employ these methods.
He said, “Well, there’s the law and then there’s ethics and then there’s getting votes. I’m not going to get into what tactics are used.”
Manafort thinks the best way to have Trump to secure the support of delegates “is to have the delegates exposed to [him].”