Trump aide: I’ll leave GOP if party blocks nomination

by Jessie Hellmann - 03/18/16 9:56 AM ET

Donald Trump adviser: If the GOP "jimmies with the rules" at the RNC, "I will leave the Republican Party forever." https://t.co/tgdpqD5u7L

— New Day (@NewDay) March 18, 2016

A top adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign says he would leave the Republican Party “forever” if it “jimmies with the rules” to prevent the front-runner from grabbing the nomination.

Sam Clovis, a national co-chair for Trump’s campaign, told CNN on Friday that “there are rules, and the rules ought to be followed” if Trump gets the 1,237 delegates necessary to clinch the party’s nomination.

{mosads}“If the Republican Party comes into that convention and jimmies with the rules and takes away the will of the people, the will of the Republicans, the Democrats and the independents that voted for Mr. Trump, I will take off my credentials, I will leave the floor of that convention, and I will leave the Republican party forever.”

Trump is more than halfway to the delegate total needed to sew up the nomination. But with rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich staying in the race, there is a growing possibility that no candidate reaches 1,237.

Clovis’s comments came just days after Trump predicated “riots” if he doesn’t win the nomination.

“I think you’d have riots,” Trump said. “I’m representing … many, many millions of people, in many cases first-time voters. I wouldn’t lead it, but I think bad things would happen.”

Tags 2016 GOP Convention Donald Trump Ted Cruz