Says he’s “fighting the party” in a “rigged system” at Connecticut rally

At an April 23, 2016 rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Trump again cast himself as the victim of a corrupt Republican primary process, telling supporters that he was “fighting the party” because it was a “rigged system.” He pointed to Louisiana — where he won the popular vote but Ted Cruz maneuvered for additional delegates — as supposed proof that party insiders could steal victories from him despite his crowds. The speech echoed his earlier complaints about Colorado and the convention and kept teaching his audience that whenever he underperformed, the explanation was a crooked system rather than the normal operation of party rules or voter choice (see 2016-02-01_to_2016-02-07, 2016-03-14_to_2016-03-20, 2016-04-04_to_2016-04-10, and 2016-04-11_to_2016-04-17).

"You know, right now we’re fighting the party because it’s a rigged system, OK? It’s a rigged system." — Bridgeport, Connecticut rally on April 23, 2016, where he cited the Louisiana delegate fight as evidence that Republican Party rules were a “rigged” system stacked against him