Trump hit by whine critic

THEM’S THE rules.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that the party’s nominating process was “rigged” against him as “rhetoric and hyperbole.”

“It’s up to the campaigns to know the rules and compete within each of those states with the rules,” Priebus said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And you need to be able to play within the confines of the rules to make sure that you get there.”

Priebus said the rules have been in place “for years.”

“These plans have been released since October of last year,” Priebus said of the RNC’s nominating stipulations, including the requirement that a candidate notch 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination.

“Having a plurality of the delegates means the field has the majority. You have to have the majority, it’s the United States of America,” he said. “The majority rules,

O R O W

and that is an American concept I can’t imagine us turning our backs on.”

Trump has claimed he should win the GOP nomination simply by virtue of having won the most delegates, even though he is unlikely to reach the magic 1,237 number.

The billionaire currently leads Ted Cruz 744-559 in the total delegate count and is unlikely to lose his lead.

His road to 1,237, however, appears to be an uphill climb, after Cruz swept dozens of delegates in electionless state conventions in states like Colorado — a process Trump has in recent days repeatedly ripped.

He doubled down on the criticism Sunday during an event on Staten Island.

“I don’t want to play the rule game. We live in a democracy and it’s all about getting the bosses out,” he said.

“You could have a very angry group of people at the convention, and I hope that doesn’t happen,” he added, hinting at the reaction of his supporters if he doesn’t win the nomination. “I hope it doesn’t involve violence. But I will say this, it’s a rigged system, it’s a crooked system, it’s 100% crooked.”

Priebus said Trump should have studied up on each state’s’ rules if he wanted to win.

“Everyone knows what the rules are. And everyone knows that the RNC can’t actually change rules between now and the convention. Everyone understands that the delegates control (the process),” he said. “It’s a state-by-state process.”

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