It was possibly going to be one of the last things Larry Wayne Lindsey ever did.
At 66, with stage four colon cancer, Lindsey was determined to become a delegate at the Republican national convention in Cleveland this July — representing Donald J. Trump.
"This election was so important to me," he told NBC News Monday, getting emotional. "Facing my cancer and knowing my time is limited, just to leave a better place for my wife and kids."
Instead of going to the grand ol' party, Lindsey feels he was misled and shutout of the process by "pro-Cruz" officials, and took to social media over the weekend to vent his frustration — by burning his Republican registration papers.
"Republican party take note, I think you’re going to see a whole lot more of these," Lindsey says in a video posted to Facebook on April 9 with the caption: "To hell with the GOP!"
He continues, "I been a Republican all my life, but I will not be a Republican again," as he set the paper on fire with a BBQ grill lighter.
But Colorado Republican officials pointed out that this would have been the first time Lindsey ever participated in the party nominating process.
And party records show that lack of familiarity with the process is likely what ultimately what left him shutout of the statewide assembly, unable to fulfill his goal.
Becoming a national delegate in Colorado is a three-step process. Those interested had to show up to their March 1st precinct caucuses and get elected to become a delegate to their respective county assemblies, scheduled throughout the month. There, delegates were chosen to represent their counties at the statewide assembly, where 13 delegates to the national convention were elected last weekend.
Related: Despite Complaints, Delegate System Has Given Trump a 22 Percent Bonus
But a sign-in sheet from his county’s March 19 assembly, the second step of the process where delegates were elected to the statewide assembly, reveals that Lindsey never showed up to that meeting, and an alternate signed in for him instead.
Lindsey admits he may have missed a meeting, but claims that his point person for navigating the party processes was among the many Cruz supporters who deliberately tried to mislead him on several occasions, including on dates and times of meetings.
He also charged that party leaders loyal to Cruz shut him out of the statewide assembly because he supported Trump.
No record of the woman Lindsey named as his point-person — Jan Morgan — exists among the Colorado Republican Party’s listings of activists and operatives, and a GOP spokesman said they haven’t been able to confirm the person exists. Lindsey couldn’t provide their contact information, and couldn’t remember the last time he spoke with her.
But his claims underscore a challenge that’s dogged Donald Trump’s campaign as Republican activists across America elect their delegates to the national committee — an unfamiliarity with the often arcane rules that govern the delegate allocation process, and not enough staff to help even the most passionate Trump supporters navigate those processes.
Related: Cruz Sweeps Colorado as Trump Campaign Issues Error-Filled Ballots
Either way, on Monday Donald Trump himself retweeted Lindsey's angry video, which has since gone viral.
"This is happening all over our country," Trump wrote in the tweet. "Great people being disenfranchised by politicians. Republican party is in trouble!"
