In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday night, Donald Trump tore into the delegate selection process in Colorado, arguing that the state’s convention disenfranchised Republican primary voters.
“On Saturday, April 9, Colorado had an ‘election’ without voters. Delegates were chosen on behalf of a presidential nominee, yet the people of Colorado were not able to cast their ballots to say which nominee they preferred,” Trump wrote.
Trump scoffed at Republican officials who have defended the rules, which were set long before the Colorado Republican convention took place.
“Let me ask America a question: How has the ‘system’ been working out for you and your family?” Trump asked in the op-ed. “I, for one, am not interested in defending a system that for decades has served the interest of political parties at the expense of the people. Members of the club—the consultants, the pollsters, the politicians, the pundits and the special interests—grow rich and powerful while the American people grow poorer and more isolated.”
The real estate mogul has been complaining about the rules in Colorado since Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) secured all of the delegates up for grabs in the state.
In the op-ed, Trump railed against Cruz for touting his win on Colorado, arguing that Cruz supports voter disenfranchisement.
“For a man who styles himself as a warrior against the establishment (you wouldn’t know it from his list of donors and endorsers), you’d think he would be demanding a vote for Coloradans. Instead, Mr. Cruz is celebrating their disenfranchisement,” he wrote. “Mr. Cruz loses when people actually get to cast ballots. Voter disenfranchisement is not merely part of the Cruz strategy—it is the Cruz strategy.”
Trump wrote that his campaign will “work within the system” to secure delegates, while also pushing for reform.
“My campaign will seek maximum transparency, maximum representation and maximum voter participation,” he wrote. “We will run a campaign based on empowering voters, not sidelining them.”
