The Donald Trump camp in Michigan is sounding the alarm in advance of Tuesday’s Republican county conventions, warning that “imposters” will show up and claim they are Trump backers.
An email to Trump supporters from Michigan campaign manager Scott Hagerstrom (pictured above) says:
“If you KNOW a precinct delegate…
Are they a TRUE Donald Trump supporter? Many IMPOSTERS that are actually aligned with the establishment will emerge from the woodwork and try to throw off the process. We want to use your knowledge to determine who these people are. Again, we want this to be a FAIR process for every candidate so that the voices of Michigan voters are heard.”
As first reported by the West Michigan Politics blog, the email sent Sunday afternoon expresses fears that the convoluted Republican rules for selecting delegates to the National Convention could be circumvented. Trump earned 25 GOP convention delegates based on his victory in the March 8 state primary, compared to 17 delegates each for John Kasich and Ted Cruz.
But Michigan has a multi-step process that precedes the determination as to who will actually serve as the state’s 59 national delegates. This is where shenanigans at the state and local level could bolster potential rules changes by the party establishment at the national level.
The county conventions that will convene Tuesday night across the state will be attended mostly by Republican precinct delegates who are elected at the grassroots level. In turn, the delegates chosen at the county conventions will represent their respective county at the April 8-9 Republican state convention. Finally, the state convention chooses delegates to represent Michigan at the July 18-21 national convention in Cleveland, where the party’s presidential nominee will be elected.
“Media reports (Click Here) indicate that career politicians and the political class are plotting to deny Mr. Trump the nomination by preventing our supporters from representing Mr. Trump as his delegates to the Republican National Convention” Hagerstrom’s email said.
The former chairman of the Michigan chapter of Americans For Prosperity, Hagerstrom seems determined to recruit and vet potential delegates to ensure they are true Trump loyalists.
“Do you want to serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and help us defeat these senseless efforts to destroy our movement?”
Photo courtesy of West Michigan Politics.