Tipsheet

The Trump Campaign Spent $208,000 on Hats in May

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  June 21, 2016 8:00 AM

The Trump campaign, which only has $1.3 million dollars cash-on-hand according to newly released FEC filings, spent $208,000 on hats in May. Hillary Clinton has $42 million cash-on-hand.

Trump also appears to have spent a significant amount of campaign money paying his own businesses and properties.

And then there's this:

He has a staff of around 70 people — compared with nearly 700 for Mrs. Clinton — suggesting only the barest effort toward preparing to contest swing states this fall. And he fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, on Monday, after concerns among allies and donors about his ability to run a competitive race.

The Trump campaign has not aired a television advertisement since he effectively secured the nomination in May and has not booked any advertising for the summer or fall. Mrs. Clinton and her allies spent nearly $26 million on advertising in June alone, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, pummeling Mr. Trump over his temperament, his statements and his mocking of a disabled reporter. The only sustained reply, aside from Mr. Trump’s gibes at rallies and on Twitter, has come from a pair of groups that spent less than $2 million combined.

Mr. Trump’s fund-raising for May reflects his lag in assembling the core of a national finance team. In the same month that he clinched the Republican nomination, Mr. Trump raised just $3.1 million and was forced to lend himself $2 million to meet costs.

What could possibly go wrong?