Donald Trump and his
supporters are wrong when they say Ted Cruz is attempting to steal the GOP presidential nomination, says conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.
"You know, being an outsider, it has benefits, but it has drawbacks, too,"
Limbaugh said Monday on his nationally syndicated radio show.
"And knowing the rules inside out and outworking the competition is not cheating. If you happen to be more knowledgeable of how things work and are able to work it to your advantage, that's just hard work. That isn't cheating."
Cruz, the firebrand senator for Texas, isn't the "establishment," Limbaugh said. But his campaign has successfully worked the system to try to get a victory in the second round of convention delegate voting if Trump, who is currently leading him by more than 200 delegates doesn't reach the magic number of 1,237 — one more than half the total number of GOP delgates.
In typical election years, such tactics are unneeded, but this year Cruz is running second to Trump. Should Trump fall short on the first ballot where most delegates are pledged to a particular candidate, Cruz could pick some of them up on the second vote. And his strategy is reflecting this effort.
Limbaugh cited an example:
"If Trump wins Pennsylvania by 75 percent, he likely will only get 17 of the 60 or 70 delegates, because only 17 are pledged and bound to whoever wins the state primary," he said. "Well, Trump has not been working any of these delegates. Why? Who knows. It could be that he didn't think he had to. It could be he didn't even know. It could be he had nobody on his staff that really knows how this works."
But Cruz isn't lying and cheating his way to the convention, Limbaugh said.
"I see a lot of hard work," Limbaugh said. "I see some people who know what they have to do, given where they are. They're in second place in both the vote count and the delegate count. They're serious about winning. "
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