Trump looks to set up a primary victory with a pitch to GOP activists
Donald Trump made a personal pitch to California Republicans Friday, declaring “help is on the way” to his supporters in a state where Democrats are dominant, falsely claiming his 30-point defeats here were the result of fraud.
The former president traveled to the state Republican Party convention in Anaheim as he works to solidify his support in a GOP presidential contest he has led for months. California's 169 convention delegates are the biggest prize in the race for the GOP nomination, and Trump can win them all by getting at least 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary.
“This is a state the right Republican can win and I think win easily,” Trump
said, claiming without evidence that fraud from the state's embrace of mail ballots drove his loss by more than 5 million votes to President Joe Biden. Election experts and Trump's own administration said the 2020 election was secure and the outcome was not affected by fraud.
Trump's criticism came
the same day that the Republican National Committee launched its “Bank your Vote” initiative in New York, which urges Republicans to vote before Election Day. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel brushed off Trump's continued skepticism.
“I think we have to take those fights on, but also understand that once it gets to game day, the rules that are on the field are what we need to play by and President Trump is all in on that,” she said.
Trump tapped into California Republicans' exhaustion with their state's Democratic leaders, who he said has brought the state homelessness, open borders, high taxes, inequality, “woke tech tyrants” and rising crime.
California was once a symbol of American prosperity and creativity but is “becoming a symbol of our nation's decline,” Trump said.
“We will reverse the decline of America and we will end the desecration of your once great state, California,” Trump said. “This is not a great state anymore. This is a dumping ground. You're a dumping ground. The world is being dumped into California. Prisoners. Terrorists. Mental patients.”