Trailing Marco Rubio won the District of Columbia and fellow Senator Ted Cruz picked up Wyoming in weekend Republican contests even as front-runner Donald Trump drew a blank and remained mostly preoccupied with protesters amid signs of an escalating face-off that could turn increasingly ugly in the coming days and weeks.
In practical terms though, the two contests were of little consequence to the winners and losers alike since they both accounted for just 30 delegates. In DC, Rubio won 10 delegates and Ohio Governor John Kasich got 9, while in Wyoming, Cruz secured 9 with Rubio and Trump getting one each.
In sharp contrast, the upcoming Super Tuesday-2 contests in five large States accounting for as many as 358 delegates between them could prove to be a do-or-die battle for at least two of the four contestants Rubio and Kasich.
The spotlight on Saturday was not so much on the contests in DC and Wyoming as on the running battle between Trump and protesters at three campaign rallies, notably in Dayton, Ohio and Kansas City in Missouri.
The Dayton rally took a dramatic turn as a protester jumped a barricade and rushed close to the stage, prompting Secret Service agents to throw a protective cordon around Trump as security officials tackled the protester and led him away. The protester, identified as Thomas Dimsassimo, 22, a student at Wright State University in Dayton, was charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct.
Trump, who appeared momentarily shaken by the episode, gave it an altogether different dimension later in the day, saying research by his web team indicated that the protester may be an ISIS member or sympathizer. Some media outlets, however, discounted the claim, saying it appeared to be based on a possibly fake video.
The incident came the morning after Trump cancelled a big rally on Friday in Chicago as large numbers of protesters and supporters clashed. After Dayton, Trump faced frequent disruption of his speech by protesters at two other venues, Cleveland, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri.
Outside the Kansas City venue, police used pepper spray as anti-Trump demonstrators staged protests denouncing the front-runner’s policies and rhetoric as racist, xenophobic and fear-mongering.
Inside the packed venue, Trump, noticing a couple of protesters were carrying signs in support of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, sought to blame the disturbances on the Sanders campaign. “Get your people in line, Bernie,” he said.
The accusations prompted Sanders to hit back at the billionaire businessman, calling him a “pathological liar” and rejecting the charge that the protests were being organized by his campaign.
“What caused the protests at Trump’s rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama,” Sanders said in a statement.
Hitting out at Trump’s language at his rallies, Sanders recalled how he threatened to punch a protester in the face and said at another meeting that in the old days, a protester would have been “carried out on a stretcher”.
He asked Trump to stop provoking violence and tell his supporters not to assault protesters at his rallies.