Republican delegates receive death threats from Donald Trump supporters

As the possibility of a contested convention approaches, some Republican delegates have reported receiving death threats from Donald Trump supporters who suspect they won't back Trump at the convention, Politico reports. As Trump will likely enter the convention with a plurality of delegates who are bound to him on the initial ballot, on subsequent votes the delegates are allowed to vote however they choose, which could leech support away.

An Indiana delegate who spoke out against Trump was threatened, receiving a note that warned against "traditional burial" and concluded with, "we are watching you." Colorado GOP chairman Steve House was told in an email to hide his family and "pray you make it to Cleveland." House also received a phone call telling him to put a gun down his throat.

"He said, 'I'll call you back in two minutes and if you're still there, I'll come over and help you,'" House said.

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"A Trump supporter recently got in my face and threatened 'bloodshed' at the national convention and said he would 'meet me at the barricades' if Trump isn't the nominee," a party chairman, who spoke anonymously, said. "The Trump campaign needs to publicly reject bullying and threats of violence."

Indiana delegate Craig Dunn also thinks Trump's campaign bears responsibility for the threats. “[Trump] may premeditate when he does that and chuckle when he walks off the podium, but his supporters don't know when to turn it off,” Dunn said. “By the time it gets down to the guy sitting in Row 63, that may be 'I'm going to find one of those delegates' ... that's the danger when you whip the audience and the crowd up.”