Donald Trump California Speech Delayed by Violent Protests
Donald Trump’s speech in Burlingame, California, has been delayed after hundreds of protesters broke through barricades and threw eggs at police outside a hotel where the GOP front-runner was due to address the state’s Republican convention.
Because of the protest, Donald Trump had to enter the hotel via a rear entrance.
His rallies have been dogged by violence.
On April 28, a police car had its windows smashed as Donald Trump spoke inside a hall in the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Some 20 arrests were made.
The Trump campaign had to cancel several rallies in March after hundreds of protesters threatened to disrupt events in Chicago and St Louis.
Before his speech on April 29, news helicopters showed Donald Trump and his security detail crossing a motorway before entering the hotel via a side door.
On stage, Donald Trump joked about the protesters, saying “that was not the easiest entrance I ever made.”
“I felt like I was crossing the border,” he said, and that he walked through “dirt and mud” to get to the building outside of San Francisco.
Many of the protesters outside Donald Trump’s speech were arguing against his positions on immigration. The billionaire has advocated building a border wall with Mexico which he says Mexico would pay for.
Donald Trump has also referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and criminals responsible for bringing illegal drugs into the US.
The New York businessman is extremely unpopular among Latino voters and California has a large Mexican-American population.
Protests are expected to continue until the California primary is held on June 7.
Donald Trump has called himself the Republican “presumptive nominee” after a string of primary wins.
In terms of delegate support, Donald Trump is far ahead of his nearest rivals, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and John Kasich, the governor of Ohio.