But by then, Trump was realizing that he could play the same games Cruz had played - maybe even better: "Well, maybe I want them rigged now,” he told Cuccinelli. “Where the hell are my delegates? Cuccinelli took them from me!” Trump would joke.Īt one point, Cuccinelli offered to help Trump “fix” the system so that wouldn’t happen. When he served in the Trump administration, he recalled, the president would rib him about how he leveraged state party rules to yield delegates for Cruz in states Trump had won. THE VIEW FROM DeSANTIS WORLD: Cuccinelli, who helped orchestrate the Cruz 2016 convention effort, says he might have seen this coming. “They’re going in and strong-arming the committees.” “They’re looking to rig the system in their favor,” Never Back Down founder KEN CUCCINELLI told Playbook of Trump’s efforts. Unsurprisingly, Trump’s rivals see it differently. We’re stopping any monkey business if they want to do it like Cruz did in 2016.” You control process, you win,” Trump campaign senior adviser CHRIS LaCIVITA, a longtime political operative steeped in convention and party procedures, told Playbook. “He who controls the rules controls the process. And it exposes how Trump’s aides have been running circles around his rivals, with only one of them - Ron DeSantis and his allies at the Never Back Down super PAC - even putting up a fight. TED CRUZ’s attempted delegate mutiny at the 2016 convention - has become. The wonky-yet-important effort underscores just how politically savvy the Trump operation - once caught flat-footed by Sen. While state parties traditionally set their own standards for apportioning delegates - and most candidates just follow them - the Trump orbit has been quietly reaching out to allies to make tweaks either aimed at locking down the nomination or beating back proposals that could help his rivals. Playbook has learned new details about how Trump’s team has worked behind the scenes to ensure delegate selection rules play to their favor - or, in their rivals’ telling, to “rig” the system. And last weekend, the executive committee of the California GOP overwhelmingly adopted rules that Trump’s team supported - awarding all of the state’s delegates to the candidate who secures more than half of statewide vote, which Trump campaign aides believe he will do. Within days, Patterson, Dhillon and other authors of the original proposal had all but abandoned their plan. NEW NYT/SIENA IOWA POLL - DONALD TRUMP 44%, RON DeSANTIS 20%, TIM SCOTT 9%, VIVEK RAMASWAMY 5%, NIKKI HALEY 4%, MIKE PENCE 3%, DOUG BURGUM 1%, CHRIS CHRISTIE <1% … The writeup … The toplines … The crosstabsĬUCCINELLI: TRUMP IS TRYING TO ‘RIG’ THE NOMINATION - In late June, California GOP Chair JESSICA MILLAN PATTERSON and RNC committee members HARMEET DHILLON and SHAWN STEEL floated a new set of delegate selection rules that could make their state more competitive in the GOP nomination process.īlindsided by the proposal - which would potentially allow lower finishers to claim more delegates than under the previous system - Trump's aides and allies jumped into action and called state leaders to complain.įar-right internet personality and white nationalist LAURA LOOMER alleged the state party was trying to steal the nomination from Trump, triggering a cascade of conspiracy theories among the MAGA faithful.Īnd after speaking to Trump’s concerned inner circle, Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY and his home-state allies made phone calls to Patterson: This new setup wouldn’t do, they said she needed to change the rules. WHAT DEM INSIDERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT - “Biden beware: Dems see a massive dip in grassroots donations as enthusiasm wanes,” by Jessica Piper WHAT GOP INSIDERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT - “Trump plans to use charges to revisit 2020 election, a fraught topic for GOP,” by WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images DRIVING THE DAYĪBOUT THE ARRAIGNMENT - “Inside the courtroom: Donald Trump, Jack Smith and a historic glance,” by Kyle Cheney. Playbook has learned new details about how former President Donald Trump’s team has worked behind the scenes to ensure RNC delegate selection rules play to their favor.
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