Right-Wing Media Hit Back At Trump Ally Roger Stone Over Plan To Release Anti-Trump Delegates' Hotel Room Numbers

Conservative media personalities are criticizing Donald Trump's campaign and ally Roger Stone after Stone said he would “disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in” allegedly stealing the nomination from Trump. Right-wing commentators have called Stone's plan an effort to “intimidate delegates,” “willfully inciting violence,” “another example of how Trump relies on thug tactics and violence,” and suggested it could lead to someone getting shot.

Trump Ally Stone Promised To “Disclose The Hotels And The Room Numbers” Of Anti-Trump Delegates At GOP Convention

Roger Stone Is A Longtime Trump Friend And Adviser Who Now Heads A Pro-Trump Super PAC. Stone previously worked as a top political aide to Donald Trump's presidential campaign before exiting in August. Stone is a notorious “dirty trickster” who formed the anti-Hillary Clinton group C.U.N.T. in 2008 and has spent much of the 2016 cycle pushing smears about the Clintons. He has a history of lobbing racist and sexist attacks against media figures, and was recently banned by CNN and MSNBC. He currently heads the pro-Trump super PAC Committee to Restore America's Greatness and is a frequent Trump supporter in the media. [Media Matters10/14/152/22/164/5/16]

Stone: “We Will Disclose The Hotels And The Room Numbers Of Those Delegates Who Are Directly Involved In The Steal.” While appearing on an April 4 radio program, Stone promised to release the hotel room information of delegates who are purportedly stealing the nomination from Trump:

ROGER STONE: If Trump does not run the table on the rest of the primaries and the caucuses, we're looking at a very, very narrow path in which the kingmakers go all out to cheat, to steal, and to snatch this nomination from the candidate who is overwhelmingly selected by the voters, which is why I have urged Trump supporters: come to Cleveland. March on Cleveland. Join us in the Forest City. We're going to have protests, demonstrations. We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal. If you're from Pennsylvania, we'll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them. You have a right to discuss this if you voted in the Pennsylvania primary, for example, and your votes are being disallowed. [Freedomain Radio, 4/4/16, via Media Matters]

Cruz Campaign Criticized Stone And Trump. Alice Stewart, communications director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), tweeted of Stone's remarks: “When will @realDonaldTrump tell his henchman @RogerJStoneJr to stop threatening GOP delegates?” [Twitter.com, 4/6/16]

Chairman Of South Carolina Republican Party Condemned Stone. The Washington Examiner reported of controversy over Stone's remarks:

Matt Moore, a delegate to the Cleveland convention via his position as chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said Stone's threats were out of bounds. “It's one thing to encourage constructive debate. It's quite another to encourage trespassing on private property to harass delegates,” Moore, who represents a state Trump won, told the Washington Examiner in an email. [Washington Examiner4/6/16]

Wash. Examiner: “A Spokeswoman For The Trump Campaign Declined To Condemn Stone's Threats.” The Washington Examiner reported of the Trump campaign's response to Stone:

A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign declined to condemn Stone's threats.

“Roger Stone is not affiliated with the campaign,” Hope Hicks wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner. [Washington Examiner4/5/16]

Conservative Media Criticize Stone And Trump Campaign Over Hotel Room Plan

Fox News' Benson: “This Is Thuggery, Orchestrated By A Close Trump Confidant.” Guy Benson, a Fox News contributor and Townhall.com political editor, connected Stone's proposal to the Trump campaign's history of “thuggery” (emphasis in original):

Essentially, we know where you live. If you want to know what the resulting “lobbying” campaign might look like, just talk to Michelle Fields, who's been targeted with death threats after several media outlets accidentally revealed her home address. This is thuggery, orchestrated by a close Trump confidant who's remained in touch with the candidate after the two officially parted ways last year. The goal would be to intimidate delegates while stirring up chaotic fury in order to drown out the real reasons Trump could lose the nomination despite entering the convention having won the most votes: (1) Organizational incompetence, (2) enduring unpopularity across wide swaths of the party, and (3) the rules themselves, which Trump openly disdains as irksome niceties: [Townhall.com, 4/5/16]

Wash. Times' Riddell: “Exactly Not What The Trump Campaign Needs.” Kelly Riddell, a Washington Times columnist and commentary writer, wrote that Stone's remarks went “way too far” and are “Exactly not what the Trump campaign needs.” [Washington Times4/5/16]

Glenn Beck: “Do You Really Think That They're Going To Go Talk To Them? Is This Incitement?” Beck, who is supporting Cruz, said of Stone's remarks:

GLENN BECK: Do you think it's reasonable to give out somebody's -- not only their hotel, but their hotel room number and say go get them? And talk to them? If you are saying they're stealing something, and these are the bad guys that are doing it to you, do you really think that they're going to go talk to them? Is this incitement? [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program4/6/16]

RedState's Howe: “Stone Is Going Above And Beyond In His Effort To Be Scummy On Behalf Of The Donald.” RedState.com writer Caleb Howe wrote that “Stone is openly attempting to intimidate delegates” and connected him to the Trump campaign:

Stone, like Trump, has no problem using actual threats of retribution against his enemies. Trump is a tin-pot amateur dictator with designs on going pro. And it seems his army of hooligans are just fine with that. Until and unless Donald Trump personally objects to these statements being made on his behalf, he is willingly endorsing them, and should be treated as someone willfully inciting violence. You know, a dirtbag. Just like Roger Stone. [RedState, 4/5/16]

Hot Air's Allahpundit: “Implicit Permission Being Given By A Trump Confidante For Strong-Arm Tactics Against The Delegates.” HotAir.com writer Allahpundit wrote:

That is to say, the significance of this clip isn't that Stone's going to spoonfeed personal information on delegates to angry Trump fans. (Although who knows? They don't call him the Dirty Trickster for nothing.) The significance, a la Trump reminiscing at his rallies about how protesters were treated in the good old days, is the implicit permission being given by a Trump confidante for strong-arm tactics against the delegates. It's all in service to the political end of delegitimizing the idea that anyone but Trump might be nominee. Never mind that the rules governing delegate selection were clear long before the primaries began; never mind the fact that Cruz is running rings around Trump so far in snapping up delegates even though Trump's whole pitch to his fans is that he has the best people on his side and never gets outmaneuvered in competition. They can't win a delegate fight so they'll screech “stop, thief!” instead. Stone's just putting some muscle behind that. [Hot Air, 4/5/16]

Rick Wilson “Said The GOP Should Block Stone From Attending The Convention.” The Washington Examiner reported:

Rick Wilson, a Florida-based Republican strategist and prominent Trump opponent, said the GOP should block Stone from attending the convention and said the flamboyant operative is a “punk ass bitch” for his efforts to intimidate his political opponents.

“We're a party of ideas and philosophies, not of men and mobs,” Wilson said. “I believe that the Republican National Committee should ban Roger and other Trump people that are involved in this campaign from entering the convention facility. I think they should work with local law enforcement authorities to get a protection order against anybody involved in the Trump. ... in any kind of intimidation like this.”

Wilson said if Trump supporters galvanized by Stone try to physically confront him at the convention, “they better have their health insurance up to date before they come and visit me.” [Washington Examiner4/6/16]

Radio Host Tony Katz: “Roger Stone Is A Weakling.” Indianapolis-based radio host Tony Katz responded to Stone's remarks by stating, “Roger Stone is a pansy. Roger Stone wouldn't know how to fight if his life depended on it. Roger Stone is a weakling. I don't think you should hit Roger Stone, I think you should laugh at Roger Stone.” Katz added that Stone's plan could lead to people getting shot. [WIBC.com, 4/6/16]

The Right Scoop Writer: “Another Example Of How Trump Relies On Thug Tactics And Violence.” The Right Scoop's SooperMexican wrote of Stone's remarks:

This is just another example of how Trump relies on thug tactics and violence because he really can't organize a campaign despite his perpetual assurances that he's a brilliant genius. After all it's much easier to commit violence against a delegate than it is to study and take advantage of state party rules. And the American people are letting this moron waltz into the GOP nomination... [The Right Scoop, 4/5/16]

Wash. Post Writer Jennifer Rubin: “Sounds To Me Like A Threat.” [WashingtonPost.com, 4/6/16]