--- title: Republican Party Fires Back at Donald Trump Remarks description: The party argued that the system is democratic, even if voters don't directly elect delegates canonical: https://time.com/4295578/republican-party-fires-back-at-trumps-rigged-remarks/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-15T05:15:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:14.620Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republican Party Fires Back at Trump's 'Rigged' Remarks og:description: The party notes that everyone knew the rules beforehand og:url: https://time.com/4295578/republican-party-fires-back-at-trumps-rigged-remarks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0b002efd9253730/69888e84196cf424af03b1d2/520272878.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: 520272878 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republican Party Fires Back at Trump's 'Rigged' Remarks twitter:description: The party notes that everyone knew the rules beforehand twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0b002efd9253730/69888e84196cf424af03b1d2/520272878.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Party Fires Back at Trump's 'Rigged' Remarks > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke J Miller / Casper, Wyo.](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Casper, Wyo. Apr 15, 2016 5:15 AM UTC  Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images Brett Carlsen—2016 Getty Images by [Zeke J Miller / Casper, Wyo.](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Casper, Wyo. Apr 15, 2016 5:15 AM UTC The Republican National Committee is firing back at Donald Trump’s campaign amid criticism from the front-runner of the party’s nominating system. After Trump failed to secure any delegates at Colorado’s GOP convention last week and as his delegate slots in a half-dozen other states were infiltrated by supporters of his rivals, the candidate blasted the process as “rigged” and “unfair,” arguing the RNC was trying to keep him from winning. The party fought back Friday morning in a memo, arguing that the system is democratic, even if voters don’t directly elect delegates to the convention. “It ultimately falls on the campaigns to be up to speed on these delegate rules,” RNC chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer [wrote](https://gop.com/memo-delegate-allocation-and-selection-rules/). “Campaigns have to know when absentee ballots are due, how long early voting lasts in certain states, or the deadlines for voter registration; the delegate rules are no different. Whether delegates are awarded through a primary, caucus, or convention, this process is democracy in action and driven by grassroots voters across the country.” “They wanted to keep people out,” Trump said of the process in Colorado, where the state eliminated a presidential preference vote in favor of a caucus and convention process. “This is a dirty trick.” In [an op-ed in the _Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/let-me-ask-america-a-question-1460675882) published late Thursday, Trump criticized the party and rival Ted Cruz over the situation in Colorado. RNC chairman Reince Priebus responded to the criticism from Trump on Twitter on Tuesday, after he blasted the party in a CNN town hall. > [](https://twitter.com/Reince/status/720073689014931456) The memo notes that the delegate-selection rules have been set since Oct. 1, when they were promptly distributed to all the campaigns. It lays the blame for Trump’s losses on his campaign for failing to pay attention to the arcane procedures until it was too late. “As a party, we believe in the freedom of the states to make decisions about how they will select delegates to the National Convention,” Spicer wrote. “And for decades, this grassroots-driven, democratic process has been transparent and effective.” Trump [faces another likely setback this weekend in Wyoming](http://time.com/4293359/donald-trump-wyoming/), where 14 delegates appear to be an easy pickup for the Cruz campaign. Sensing a rough reception, the Trump campaign announced late Thursday that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who was scheduled to address the state’s convention, would no longer attend. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4295578/republican-party-fires-back-at-trumps-rigged-remarks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4295578/republican-party-fires-back-at-trumps-rigged-remarks/"},"headline":"Republican Party Fires Back at Trump's 'Rigged' Remarks","datePublished":"2016-04-15T05:15:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:14.620Z","description":"The party argued that the system is democratic, even if voters don't directly elect delegates","url":"https://time.com/4295578/republican-party-fires-back-at-trumps-rigged-remarks/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0b002efd9253730/69888e84196cf424af03b1d2/520272878.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke J Miller / Casper, Wyo."}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0b002efd9253730/69888e84196cf424af03b1d2/520272878.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"520272878","caption":"ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks before a capacity crowd at a rally for his campaign on April 10, 2016 in Rochester, New York. 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