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Trump Threatens 'Rough July' if RNC Doesn't 'Straighten Out' Delegate System

After a week of crying foul against a “rigged” delegate process, Trump warned of a "rough July" if the RNC doesn't "straighten out the system."
Image: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points at the media as he speaks during a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points at the media as he speaks during a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York April 16, 2016.CARLO ALLEGRI / Reuters

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — After a week of crying foul against a "rigged" delegate process, Donald Trump on Saturday warned of a "rough July" if the party's national committee doesn't change how it chooses its nominee ahead of the GOP convention.

“They better get going,” he urged the Republican National Committee to cheers from the few thousand people at his first of two New York rallies ahead of Tuesday's pivotal primary.

"Because I'll tell you what, you're gonna have a rough July at that convention," the Republican front-runner continued. "You better get going, and you better straighten out the system because the people want their vote, the people want to vote and they want to be represented properly."

The threat comes a month after Trump told CNN that he thought there could be "riots" at the GOP convention in Cleveland should the establishment push for a brokered convention.

“I guess I’m complaining because it’s not fair to the people,” Trump said. The real estate mogul has been complaining for days that the party's process for selecting a presidential candidate is "stacked against" him and set up to protect party insiders.

At a later rally in Watertown, New York, Trump said the process was a "rigged deal" and called a handful of protesters there "phony."

"It's a whole phony deal, just like what's happening with the Republican Party in terms of this delegate deal," Trump said of the protesters.

Related: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to Trump: 'Give Us All a Break'

Trump's comments came as rival Ted Cruz won the 14 Wyoming at-large delegates up for grabs at the state's Republican convention on Saturday. Cruz has collected 23 of the 26 pledged delegates there in all after winning the March 12 caucuses.

The Texas senator got 66 percent of the vote, followed by former candidate Marco Rubio at 20 percent and Donald Trump with 7 percent.

Cruz's campaign has shown itself to be a better organizer at local party conventions, where it has outmaneuvered Team Trump for delegates. RNC chairman Reince Priebus fired back at Trump last week, saying it was the mogul's responsibility to know how the party's system worked.

Trump also turned on the New York charm Saturday, noting in Syracuse he shares a “twang” with New Yorkers — and never failing to remind at both rallies that Cruz doesn’t like “New York values.”

“Ted Cruz does not like you and he does not like New York,” Trump said emphatically to the Syracuse crowd that cheered wildly when he mentioned his now-favorite moniker for Cruz, Lyin’ Ted.

Meanwhile, Trump was quick to tout that he knows “a lot about Syracuse."

"You love Syracuse, I love Syracuse, we love New York, we love the United States of America," Trump said.

Trump also focused in on a jobs message, again mentioning localized statistics on unemployment and manufacturing jobs and noting that unity will come through economic prosperity, as he has throughout New York primary campaigning.

“Jobs will bring us together,” Trump proclaimed.

Trump also added a new target to his list: the owners of the Chicago Cubs. Like he did on "Fox and Friends," Trump lamented the Ricketts family funding attacks against him and predicted the team would do “terribly this year.”