Donald Trump is very upset about the fact that he never bothered to learn the rules about how Republican delegates are selected in Colorado and Ted Cruz did.
The people of Colorado had their vote taken away from them by the phony politicians. Biggest story in politics. This will not be allowed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2016
One might think that a brilliant manager like Trump, who has made a career of using the rules to his advantage—his multiple bankruptcy filings, for example—would never let himself get outmaneuvered by a “phony politician.”
One might even think that failing to learn the rules and carry out a winning strategy in Colorado, among other states, is sign of poor management skills and general incompetence, especially for someone who is applying to become chief executive of America.
He @RickSantorum lost his 06 Senate race by 18 points. He is also disqualified for 18 Ohio delegates. (cont) https://t.co/jcbS4Prv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2012
@RickSantorum's campaign is so inept he doesn't even have a full slate of delegates in his home state of (cont) https://t.co/Hn5S2OFU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2012
In fact, that’s exactly what Donald Trump thought in 2012 when Rick Santorum’s campaign had some trouble locking up delegates in the Republican primary. “If [Rick Santorum] can’t run a professional campaign in the primary, how can he run one in the general against @BarackObama?” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Or worse, how can he run a country?”
Santorum’s “lost delegates,” Trump wrote, were a sign that the candidate was “badly organized and not a good manager.” But now that the same thing has happened to him in 2016, Trump has changed his mind, and decided that Ted Cruz is a lyin’ cheat.
It’s ironic that someone like Trump, who is constantly celebrating his ability to “win,” is unable to appreciate Cruz’s shrewd tactics—i.e., learning the rules and successfully executing strategy based on those rules. As Rush Limbaugh said: “It’s not cheating, it’s winning.”