The gloves are off: campaign to stop Trump grows to include hundreds of Republican delegates

A campaign to stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican presidential nominee has the support of nearly 400 delegates to the Republican’s convention next month, according to organisers, quickly transforming what began as an idea tossed around on social media into a force that could derail a national campaign.

While organisers concede their plan could worsen internal party strife, they believe that they are responding to deep-rooted concerns among conservatives about Trump, who is suffering from declining poll numbers after weeks of missteps and embarrassing headlines.

“Short-term, yes, there’s going to be chaos,” said Kendal Unruh, a co-founder of the group, “Free the Delegates”. “Long-term this saves the party and we win the election. Everything has to go through birthing pains to birth something great. We’re going to go through the trauma of the birthing pains, but the reward will be worth it.”

Unruh said her cause is winning support from “the non-rabble rousers. The rule-following, church-going grandmas who aren’t out protesting in the streets. This is the way they push back”.

The campaign’s growing support came amid a significant shakeup in Trump’s campaign. On Monday, he fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, one of his most loyal and vocal aides.

The move was seen as an urgent attempt to ease Republican concerns over the campaign’s direction.

Unruh and other Republican delegates from Colorado hatched the idea of trying to stop Trump by introducing a rule change: Instead of binding delegates to the results of the caucuses and conventions – as many party leaders insist they are – the convention’s 2,472 delegates should instead be able to vote their conscience and select whomever they want.