History TroubledProduction / Other

%%** The third night of the convention was meant to showcase Pence. However, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – one of Trump's most bitter rivals in the GOP primaries – gave a speech beforehand in which he snubbed Trump by not endorsing him, instead suggesting to "vote your conscience." Republicans in the building reacted with such anger that Cruz's wife had to be escorted out of the building. The stunt drew attention away from Pence's speech, which was pushed back to the late hours thanks to Cruz's speech running too long.

%%** Day one hit a rough patch when the "Never Trump" faction of the Republican delegation attempted a roll call vote on the floor of the convention as a last-ditch attempt to stop Trump from receiving the nomination. The Rules Committee shot down the attempt, claiming they did not have the requisite number of states to request such a vote, leading many delegates to walk out in protest.

%%** The third night of the convention was meant to showcase Pence. However, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – one of Trump's most bitter rivals in the GOP primaries – gave a speech beforehand in which he snubbed Trump by not endorsing him, instead suggesting to "vote your conscience." Republicans in the building reacted with such anger that Cruz's wife had to be escorted out of the building, while at least one GOP donor had to be restrained from attacking Cruz. The stunt drew attention away from Pence's speech, which was pushed back to the late hours thanks to Cruz's speech running too long.

%%*Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign has gained a reputation for lack of experience and organization, with consistent reports of understaffing, insufficient funding, inflammatory rhetoric from both Trump and his surrogates, outright violence at rallies, and lack of support from the rest of the Republican party. So far the ongoing Republican National Convention has become a microcosm of all the issues plaguing the campaign
%%** In the weeks leading up to the convention many in the media feared a repeat of the 1968 Democratic convention (mentioned above), thanks to Trump's reputation for encouraging violence among his followers, with several high-profile terrorist attacks and police shootings reigniting hot-button issues such as racism and Islamophobia. For the most part though protests and counter protests have been nonviolent, with only a few scuffles between protestors and police and a scattering of arrests. The real drama occurred within the convention itself.

%%** The first day of the convention hit a rough patch when the "Never Trump" faction of the Republican Party attempted a roll call vote on the floor of the convention as a last-ditch attempt to stop Trump from receiving the nomination. The Rules committee shot down the attempt, claiming they did not have the requisite number of states to request such a vote, leading many delegates to walk out in protest.
%%** The biggest gaffe of the night came from Melanie Trump, when social media observers noted that she'd lifted several paragraphs from Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech. Republican attempts to downplay the apparent plagiarism were either widely mocked (such as [[http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/sean-spicer-melania-trump-my-little-pony/ RNC Official Sean Spencer's citation of]] MyLittlePony in Melanie's defense) or condemned ([[http://www.mediaite.com/tv/you-got-caught-cuomo-grills-trumps-campaign-chief-for-refusing-to-admit-plagiarism/ CNN's Chris Cuomo flat-out accused Trump's campaign manager of lying.]])
%%** Most of the speeches spoke little about what policies the party wanted to institute under Trump, and more on attacks. The theme of the convention's second night, "Make America Work Again," was intended to outline economic proposals, but quickly devolved into a prolonged Two Minutes' Hate against Hillary Clinton. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie led a mock trial against Clinton and led the delegates in a chant of "Lock her up!" He was followed by Ben Carson, who literally tried to link Clinton to Satan. Clinton was mentioned more times during the second night than the economy or even Trump himself.
%%** The third night of the convention was meant to showcase a prime-time speech by Pence. However, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – one of Trump's most bitter rivals in the Republican primaries – gave a speech beforehand in which he snubbed Trump by not endorsing him, instead suggesting to "vote your conscience." Republicans in the building reacted with such anger that Cruz's wife Heidi had to be escorted out of the building, while at least one GOP donor had to be restrained from attacking Cruz. The stunt drew attention away from Pence's speech, which was pushed back to the late hours thanks to Cruz's speech running too long.

%%**
* But if the 2012 Republican convention was bad, their 2016 convention – nominating Creator/DonaldTrump for president – was a clusterfuck of ''literally historic proportions''.
** Even before the start of the convention, most high-profile Republicans – including some of Trump's former rivals in the primaries and both Presidents Bush – declined to make appearances due to Trump's notoriously divisive candidacy. The roster of speakers consisted of only a handful of name Republicans; Trump's family and business associates; and several C-List celebrities like Scott Baio. This was contrasted with the schedule of the upcoming Democratic convention, which included two presidents (BillClinton and BarackObama) and their families.
** Concerns were raised about security, as the convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio – a state with "open-carry" laws allowing people to openly carry around loaded firearms. Sure enough, protesters supporting Trump announced that they would organize outside the convention fully armed. Because of earlier incidents of violence at Trump's campaign rallies, Cleveland's police chief asked for Republican Governor John Kasich to suspend the open-carry law, which Kasich claimed he was unable to do.
** In a preview of the mayhem to come, Trump's roll-out for his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, was botched by leaks, incompetent planning, and reports that Trump was so dissatisfied with Pence's selection that he tried to back out of naming him on the night before the selection was to be publicly announced. A awkward joint interview with Trump and Pence on ''Series/SixtyMinutes'' did not help matters.
** At the very start of day one, chaos broke out on the floor when a small contingent of anti-Trump delegates tried to force a roll call vote on the slim chance that the Republican leadership would be forced to pick a different nominee. The attempt was quashed when three of the nine state delegations needed to force such a vote reneged. But the biggest story of the night came when Trump's wife Melania gave a speech that was well received...until it turned out that part of the speech was plagiarized from Michelle Obama's speech before the 2008 Democratic convention.
** Rather than admitting to the error and moving on, Trump's campaign refused to admit plagiarism had occurred, despite side-by-side video evidence to prove it did. Then they came out with outlandish excuses for what happened, at one point claiming that the scandal was planted in the media by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. This only intensified media attention towards the scandal and overshadowed the second day of proceedings. The Trump Organization put out a statement in which a staffer who wrote Melania's speech apologized for the debacle, but this only raised questions about why an employee of Trump's company was writing the speech when it was illegal to do so.
** Most of the speeches spoke little about what policies the party wanted to institute under Trump, and more on attacks. The theme of the convention's second night, "Make America Work Again," was intended to outline economic proposals, but quickly devolved into a prolonged Two Minutes' Hate against Hillary Clinton. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie led a mock trial against Clinton and led the delegates in a chant of "Lock her up!" He was followed by Ben Carson, who literally tried to link Clinton to Satan. Clinton was mentioned more times during the second night than the economy or even Trump himself.
** The third night of the convention was meant to showcase a prime-time speech by Pence. However, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – one of Trump's most bitter rivals in the Republican primaries – gave a speech beforehand in which he snubbed Trump by not endorsing him, instead suggesting to "vote your conscience." Republicans in the building reacted with such anger that Cruz's wife Heidi had to be escorted out of the building, while at least one GOP donor had to be restrained from attacking Cruz. The stunt drew attention away from Pence's speech, which was pushed back to the late hours thanks to Cruz's speech running too long.

** At the very start of day one, chaos broke out on the floor when a small contingent of anti-Trump delegates tried to force a roll call vote on the slim chance that the Republican leadership would be forced to pick a different nominee. The attempt was quashed when three of the nine state delegations needed to force such a vote reneged. But the biggest story of the night came when Trump's wife Melania gave a speech that was well received...until it was discovered that part of the speech was plagiarized from Michelle Obama's speech before the 2008 convention.

** Even before the start of the convention, most high-profile Republicans – including some of Trump's former rivals in the primaries and both Presidents Bush – declined to make appearances, likely due to Trump's notoriously divisive candidacy. The roster of speakers consisted of only a handful of name Republicans; Trump's family and business associates; and several C-List celebrities like Scott Baio. This was contrasted with the schedule of the upcoming Democratic convention, which included two presidents (BillClinton and BarackObama) and their families.

** Even before the start of the convention, most high-profile Republicans – including some of Trump's former rivals in the primaries and both Presidents Bush – declined to make appearances, most likely due to Trump's divisive candidacy. The roster of speakers consisted of only a handful of name Republicans; Trump's wife, children and friends; and several C-List celebrities like Scott Baio. This was contrasted with the schedule of the upcoming Democratic convention, which included two presidents (BillClinton and BarackObama) and their families.

** In a preview of the mayhem to come, Trump's roll-out for his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, was botched by leaks, incompetent planning, and reports that Trump was so dissatisfied with Pence's selection that he tried to back out of naming him on the night before the selection was to be publicly announced. A awkward joint interview with Trump and Pence on ''Series/60Minutes'' did not help matters.

** Rather than admitting to the error and moving on, Trump's campaign refused to admit plagiarism had occurred, despite side-by-side video evidence to prove it did. Then they came out with outlandish excuses for what happened, at one point claiming that the scandal was planted in the media by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. This only intensified media attention towards the scandal and overshadowed the second day of proceedings. The Trump Organization put out a statement in which the staffer who wrote Melania's speech apologized for the debacle, but this only raised questions about why an employee of Trump's company was writing the speech when it was illegal to do so.
** Most of the speeches spoke little about what policies the party wanted to institute under Trump, and more on attacks. The theme of the convention's second night, "Make America Work Again," was intended to outline economic proposals, but quickly devolved into a prolonged TwoMinutesHate against Hillary Clinton. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie led a mock trial against Clinton and led the delegates in a chant of, "Lock her up!" He was followed by Ben Carson, who literally tried to link Clinton to Satan. Clinton was mentioned more times during the second night than the economy or even Trump himself.
** The third night of the convention was meant to showcase a prime-time speech by Pence. However, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – one of Trump's most bitter rivals in the Republican primaries – gave a speech beforehand in which he snubbed Trump by not endorsing him, instead suggesting to "vote your conscience." Republicans in the building reacted with such anger that Cruz's wife Heidi had to be escorted out of the building, while at least one GOP donor had to be restrained from attacking Cruz. The senator's stunt drew attention away from Pence's speech, which was pushed back to the late hours when Cruz's speech pushed back the schedule.

* But if the 2012 Republican convention was bad, their 2016 convention – nominating Creator/DonaldTrump for president – became a clusterfuck of ''literally historic proportions''.
** Even before the start of the convention, most high-profile Republicans – including some of Trump's former rivals in the primaries and both Presidents Bush – declined to make appearances, likely due to Trump's divisive candidacy. The roster of speakers consisted of only a handful of name Republicans; Trump's wife, children and friends; and several C-List celebrities like Scott Baio. This was contrasted with the schedule of the upcoming Democratic convention, which included two presidents (BillClinton and BarackObama) and their families.

** At the very start of day one, chaos broke out on the floor when a small contingent of #NeverTrump delegates – conservatives opposed to Trump's nomination – tried to force a roll call vote on the slim chance that the Republican leadership would be forced to pick a different nominee. The attempt was quashed when three of the nine state delegations needed to force such a vote reneged, which some claimed they were coerced into doing. But the biggest story of the night came when Trump's wife Melania gave a speech that was well received...until it was discovered that part of the speech was plagiarized from Michelle Obama's speech before the 2008 convention.

** Even before the start of the convention, most high-profile Republicans – including some of Trump's former rivals in the primaries and both Presidents Bush – declined to make appearances. The roster of speakers consisted of only a handful of name Republicans; Trump's wife, children and friends; and several C-List celebrities like Scott Baio. This was contrasted with the schedule of the upcoming Democratic convention, which included two presidents (BillClinton and BarackObama) and their families.

%%*Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign has gained a reputation for lack of experience and organization, with consistent reports of understaffing, lack of funding, inflammatory rhetoric from both Trump and his surrogates, outright violence at rallies, and lack of support from the rest of the Republican party. So far the ongoing Republican National Convention has become a microcosm of all the issues plaguing the campaign

%%** The RNC found itself scrambling for speakers, ultimately filling up slots with TV and sports stars, Trump family members, and victims of Benghazi and illegal immigrant criminals.

%%** The biggest gaffe of the night came from Melanie Trump, when social media observers noted that she'd lifted several paragraphs from Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech.

%%*Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign is worth noting, with such issues as understaffing, lack of funding, Trump's foot-in-mouth remarks, Melania plagiarizing Michelle Obama, a poorly organized Republican National Convention, etc.

%%*Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and its unraveling should be posted here either after the Republican National Convention (if the RNC decides to ditch him for another candidate) or after November 8, 2016 (if he loses the election).

** Worse, Romney had badly botched a visit to [[UsefulNotes/{{London}} the UK just prior]], forgetting the name of British Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband (and just referring to him as "Mr. Leader", with its unfortunate BananaRepublic overtones) and suggesting that London wasn't ready to host the upcoming Olympics, which earned him a public rebuke from Prime Minister UsefulNotes/DavidCameron himself.

** The real disaster came with the onset of the Great Recession. When a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers (the firm whose collapse started the whole mess) missed its payments in 2009, other lenders started pulling out, causing the Meadowlands Xanadu to lose half a billion dollars' worth of funding. The mall was only 80% finished at this point, and would likely miss its opening day (pushed back to 2010 by this point) again, causing retailers who had leased space inside the mall, including big anchors like Cabela's, to shelve their plans to open their Meadowlands locations.

** As of now, construction is projected to be complete in summer 2017. Many have come to view it as one of the biggest boondoggles in New Jersey's history, its equivalent of the Big Dig given how much public money in the form of loans and tax breaks has been given to the developers, especially given how many malls already exist in northern New Jersey.

* The American Dream Meadowlands megamall in East Rutherford, UsefulNotes/NewJersey, part of the vast Meadowlands Sports Complex that includes [=MetLife=] Stadium (home field of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague New York Giants and Jets]]) and the Izod Center (former home of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague New Jersey Devils]] and the then-[[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation New Jersey Nets]]), was first proposed in the early '00s by the Mills Corporation as the Meadowlands Xanadu, described as "a new standard for bringing lifestyle, recreation, sports and family entertainment offerings together in one location." This would be no ordinary mall -- it would have an [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL-sized]] UsefulNotes/IceHockey rink, a minigolf course, an indoor water park and Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}} theme park, an twelve-story, 800-foot indoor ski slope, a 26-screen movie theater with an outdoor lounge overlooking Manhattan, a concert hall, and to top it all off, the Pepsi Globe, a 287-foot-tall Ferris wheel. [[http://www.gq.com/story/five-billion-dollar-new-jersey-mega-mall-american-dream-meadowlands This profile]] in ''GQ'' describes it as something "ripped from the pages of Creator/DavidFosterWallace's dystopian novel ''Literature/InfiniteJest''." Ground was broken in 2004, with expected completion in two years. [[http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/does-america-still-want-the-american-dream/409804/ It's still under construction]] as of this writing.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig The Big Dig]] is the most famous construction project in {{UsefulNotes/Boston}}'s history for all the wrong reasons. It was simple enough on paper: Reroute Interstate 93 under the central part of the city into an underground tunnel and tear down the Central Artery[[note]]also known as "The Distressway", "the largest parking lot in the world", and "the other Green Monster"[[/note]], a notoriously ugly elevated roadway that cut the historic North End off from the rest of the city, and then use the newly opened space to create a park and new entertainment venues and attractions. Initially planned to be completed in 1998, it wasn't until 2007 that it was formally finished and only after a series of events that included escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests, and one fatality (caused by a faulty ceiling panel collapsing on a car and killing a passenger) and an estimated cost of $14.6 billion, an overrun of 190% of the initial calculation of $6.0 billion[[note]]adjusted for inflation[[/note]]. And even today the tunnels are plagued with problems that require nearly constant repair, such as an estimated 25,000 light fixtures that will eventually have to be replaced to the tune of $54 million. The entire clusterfuck has made Bostonians wary of any big projects since then, and may have had a hand in dooming the Boston 2024 Olympic bid (see above). While everyone agrees the end result did accomplish its intended purpose, the process of getting there was a disaster.

** It's possible the fallout from the con even helped kill the entire [=SuperWhoLock=] fandom, or at the least made it undesirable to publicly claim affiliation with it, as people began to notice after the con that the presence of the fandoms on the site dropped considerably. While there were likely other factors at play, Dashcon can be seen as the turning point. See [[https://agriff11.tumblr.com/post/146801044745/phantomrose96-theofficialvincenzo here]] for further analysis.

** It's possible the fallout from the con even helped kill the entire [=SuperWhoLock=] fandom, or at the least made it undesirable to publicly claim affiliation with it, as people began to notice after the con that the presence of the fandoms on the site dropped considerably. While there were likely other factors at play, Dashcon can be seen as the turning point. See [[http://theofficialvincenzo.tumblr.com/post/146786545570/phantomrose96-i-would-pay-top-dollar-for-a here]] for further analysis.

** It's possible the fallout from the con even helped kill the entire [=SuperWhoLock=] fandom, or at the least made it undesirable to publicly claim affiliation with it, as people began to notice after the con that the presence of the fandoms on the site dropped considerably. While there were likely other factors at play, Dashcon can be seen as the turning point. See [[http://ayoka-aminat.tumblr.com/post/146822722331 here]] for further analysis.

* When Donald Trump declared the start of his presidential campaign in June 2015, many speculated that it was merely a publicity stunt meant to get him additional attention. Then surprise, surprise, he somehow managed to end up becoming the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party. But after that, things went to shit, really fast.
** Over the first few months of the campaign, Trump came under fire multiple times. First there were his remarks about the Mexican border where he asserted that Mexico was sending murderers and rapists to the U.S. (said in the wake of the murder of a San Francisco woman by a person in the country illegally). After the first debate, he also became the subject of controversy for remarks he'd made about FOX political commentator Megyn Kelly.
** In the years prior to the campaign, Trump had been under investigation for running a fraudulent scheme known as "Trump University". On May 27, 2016, the U.S. District Judge overseeing the suit, Gonzalo P. Curiel, granted a request from ''The Washington Post'' for public release of certain documents that had been filed in the case. The released information included "playbooks" documenting instructions for employees to use a hard-sell approach, as well as depositions in which former employees said that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Trump himself became the target of controversy when he called the judge a "hater" and described him as "Spanish" or "Mexican" (Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican parents), trying to suggest that Curiel's ethnicity posed a conflict of interest in light of Trump's proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.
** On June 12, 2016, a massacre took place at an Orlando, Florida nightclub, in which 49 people were killed by a gunman who had been radicalized over the Internet. Trump took a lot of fire for offering himself unseemly congratulations for his prescience about terrorism, claiming to have been "right" to propose his controversial plan to ban Muslims from entering the US[[note]]which he'd first floated after the San Bernardino shootings in December[[/note]], even though the shooter was an American-born citizen. Not only that, but he went beyond blaming Barack Obama for lack of will or wisdom in fighting terrorism, and darkly implied presidential sympathy for the enemy.
** A few days after the nightclub massacre, Trump made a big stir when his campaign blacklisted ''The Washington Post'' from covering Trump's rallies[[note]]which technically only means that ''Washington Post'' reporters with credentials can't cover from the bullpen with other reporters. They can still attend as members of the general public[[/note]] Given earlier remarks about wanting to open up libel laws and whatnot, many saw Trump as having no respect for the First Amendment of the Constitution[[note]]Freedom of press[[/note]].
** By mid-June, polling showed Trump being viewed as highly unfavorable among many voting demographics. This led many to speculate that if the GOP nominated him at the RNC, Trump was going to lose to UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton in a landslide come November, since while Hillary had the email controversy surrounding her, she had a finely tuned campaign machine and the full-fledged support of the entire Democratic party establishment, including Obama and Biden. Unlike Trump, who had alienated a substantial portion of the Republican establishment with his foot-in-mouth remarks. Numerous Republican leaders, ranging from Congressmen to state governors, refused to endorse Trump, including Ohio governor John Kasich, who had dropped out of the 2016 race in May and whose state was scheduled to host the RNC. [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dozens-of-gop-delegates-launch-new-push-to-halt-donald-trump/2016/06/17/e8dcf74e-3491-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?tid=sm_fb Many GOP delegates also began pushing efforts to block Trump from receiving the nomination at the Republican National Convention]]. Within a week of Orlando, the [=#DumpTrump=] movement[[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-delegate-revolt-has-become-republicans-only-option/2016/06/20/2a5999ec-3713-11e6-8f7c-d4c723a2becb_story.html had grown]] to encompass [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-anti-trump-movement-grows-to-include-hundreds-of-gop-delegates/2016/06/20/88fb25cc-36f7-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html hundreds of the GOP delegates]], increasing the chances of [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/20/three-reasons-why-the-convention-coup-against-trump-is-not-completely-insane/ a convention coup]].
** It began to be reported that Trump's campaign may have run into financial difficulties. A report in June showed that Trump barely even had a skeletal campaign staff, [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/19/the-brutal-numbers-behind-a-very-bad-month-for-donald-trump/?tid=sm_fb of 70 people at best]]. Not to mention that [[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-fundraising-gop.html?ribbon-ad-idx=14&rref=politics he hadn't run any ads in swing states, prompting him to make requests for an emergency infusion of $100,000]], in contrast to Clinton's campaign which was sinking upwards of $30 million in ads for those states. Compare this to 2012, where Mitt Romney's campaign had put as much effort into advertising in the swing states as Obama's reelection campaign.
** On June 20, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/corey-lewandowski-donald-trump.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur Trump fired]] [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/06/20/trump-parts-ways-with-campaign-manager/?tid=sm_fb his campaign manager]] Corey Lewandowski, indicating further evidence of discourse within his campaign.
** Also on June 20th, both campaigns filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It showed that Trump had started the month with just $1.3 million in cash on hand, a figure more typical for a campaign for the House of Representatives than the White House, and trailed Hillary by more than $41 million.
** Some invitations to Trump fund-raising events featured the same short list of national Republican finance volunteers regardless of what city the event is held in, suggesting Trump was having trouble lining up local co-hosts.

* As of June 2016, there's strong evidence to suggest that Donald Trump's presidential campaign is going this way.

** By mid-June, polling showed Trump being viewed as highly unfavorable among many voting demographics. This led many to speculate that if the GOP nominated him at the RNC, Trump was going to lose to UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton in a landslide come November, since while Hillary had the email controversy surrounding her, she had a finely tuned campaign machine and the full-fledged support of the entire Democratic party establishment, including Obama and Biden. Unlike Trump, who had alienated a substantial portion of the Republican establishment with his foot-in-mouth remarks. Numerous Republican leaders, ranging from Congressmen to state governors, refused to endorse Trump, including Ohio governor John Kasich, who had dropped out of the 2016 race in May and whose state was scheduled to host the RNC. [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dozens-of-gop-delegates-launch-new-push-to-halt-donald-trump/2016/06/17/e8dcf74e-3491-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?tid=sm_fb Many GOP delegates also began pushing efforts to block Trump from receiving the nomination at the Republican National Convention]].
** It began to be reported that Trump's campaign may have run into financial difficulties. A report in June showed that Trump barely even had a skeletal campaign staff, [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/19/the-brutal-numbers-behind-a-very-bad-month-for-donald-trump/?tid=sm_fb of maybe 30 people at best]]. Not to mention that [[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-fundraising-gop.html?ribbon-ad-idx=14&rref=politics he hadn't run any ads in swing states, prompting him to make requests for an emergency infusion of $100,000]], in contrast to Clinton's campaign which was sinking upwards of $30 million in ads for those states. Compare this to 2012, where Mitt Romney's campaign had put as much effort into advertising in the swing states as Obama's reelection campaign.

** It began to be reported that Trump's campaign may have run into financial difficulties, [[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-fundraising-gop.html?ribbon-ad-idx=14&rref=politics prompting him to be making more appearances in Republican states]] rather than swing states.