Illinois delegates who will represent Donald Trump at the upcoming convention held a conference call Thursday night that reportedly revealed a lack of organization and guidance on behalf of the billionaire’s campaign.
Throughout the two-hour conference call, delegates reportedly voiced concerns about their role in a contested convention and the absence of any campaign structure for the billionaire in Illinois in the event he emerges as the GOP presidential nominee.
“There is no Trump team in Illinois, it’s us,” Doug Ibendahl, a Chicago-based attorney backing Trump, said on the call, according to The Guardian. Ibdendahl later denied making such a statement during an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Other concerns raised included the sudden absence of Trump’s Illinois state chair Kent Gray. The GOP operative was hired by the Trump campaign in October to help capture delegates for Trump throughout the state, but has since struggled with his leadership duties, the delegates claimed.
The growing anti-Trump movement also came up, with several delegates reportedly expressing uncertainty about their role ahead of the convention in the event Trump’s opponents try to block the candiate from securing the nomination.
Trump won Illinois’ Republican primary and currently leads the delegate race with 739 total delegates. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz follows with 465 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 143.
