Protesters make Trump crawl
GOP candidate forced to duck under fence to reach site for speech
Burlingame, Calif. — Donald Trump, the outsider, made his case to California’s Republican establishment on Friday as protesters clashed with police.
Demonstrators swarmed outside the hotel near San Francisco airport, forcing Trump to crawl under a fence to enter the hotel where he met with local GOP power brokers and gave a lunchtime speech at the state party’s convention. On Thursday night, protesters tangled with authorities and damaged police cars after a Trump rally in Orange County.
Tensions mounted as the GOP presidential contest moves into its final stages in one of the nation’s most liberal and diverse states. The state party convention amounts to the starting bell in California primary, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich appearing later Friday and Tex- as Sen. Ted Cruz and his new running mate, Carly Fiorina, up today.
During his speech at the convention, Trump called for the party to unify behind him but also issued a veiled threat to its leaders. “There has to be unity in our party,” he said. “Would I win — could I win — without it? I think so because they’re going to be voting for me” — and not the party, he added.
California’s primary usually comes after the party nominees have been decided — but this year it looms as a decisive contest that could either clinch the prize for Trump or force him into a contested convention in July.
All three candidates are looking to galvanize supporters, sway undecided party members or poach from rival campaigns at the convention. “It’s go- ing to be a free-for-all,” predicted the state party vice chairman, Harmeet Dhillon.
That label clearly applied to Trump’s Orange County rally Thursday night, which filled the Pacific Amphitheatre to its capacity of about 8,000, with many hundreds more turned away.
Protests that stayed mostly peaceful during the event grew in size and anger afterward. Police in riot gear and on horseback pushed the crowd back and away from the arena; one Trump supporter had his face bloodied in a scuffle as he tried to drive away. One man jumped on a police car, leaving its front and rear windows smashed and the top dented, and other protesters sprayed graffiti on a police car and the venue’s marquee.
About 20 people were arrested, said the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators pushed to the front doors of the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame before being moved back by police in riot gear. Some protesters infiltrated the hotel building and hung a giant banner reading, “Stop Hate.”
The Secret Service led Trump in through a rear entrance to the hotel. Trump joked that as he crawled under a fence to get in, he “felt like I was crossing the border.”
Trump’s remaining rivals can’t beat him in what’s left of the primary season. Their only hope is to deny him a majority of delegates heading into the July convention and wrestle for the prize in multiple ballots there.
But questions persist in the party — nationally and in California — about Trump’s electability in the fall and his conservative credentials. So the reception Trump receives from the state’s party activists and grassroots organizers will be noteworthy.
The Secret Service led Donald Trump in through a rear entrance to the hotel. Trump joked that as he crawled under a fence to get in, he “felt like I was crossing the border.”