Edition · April 20, 2024

Trump’s Saturday of Small Disasters

On April 20, 2024, the Trump operation got hit from two sides: a weather-flattened rally in North Carolina and fresh FEC filings showing the campaign’s legal bill problem still chewing through cash.

April 20 was not a catastrophic Trump day in the way a conviction or indictment is. But it was a useful snapshot of how the 2024 operation was being dragged around by the former president’s legal baggage, money drain, and the basic physics of trying to campaign while sitting in a Manhattan courtroom. The best-documented screwups of the day were a canceled rally in North Carolina and newly filed disclosure reports showing millions more spent on legal fees.

Closing take

No single event on April 20 changed the race. Together, though, they showed a campaign that was still paying real costs for Trump’s legal mess and still unable to separate the candidate from the courtroom. That is not exactly the profile of a disciplined political machine.

Ranked by how bad the fuckup was

5 stars means maximum fallout. 1 star means a smaller self-own.

Story

Trump’s North Carolina rally fizzles before it starts

★★☆☆☆Fuckup rating 2/5 Noticeable stumble

Trump’s first rally after the hush-money trial began was canceled because of severe weather, leaving supporters standing around while the campaign tried to turn a logistics loss into a rain-soaked act of destiny.

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