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For the Record: Trumpster fire

Brett McGinness   | Paste BN

Yesterday morning we speculated that underdog Donald Trump might add to Cleveland's win streak this year. But shortly thereafter, the campaign fired its manager (never a good sign). It's the second major departure for a Trump staffer in less than a month. That wasn't the only bad news for the Team Trump front office: a new report says they're losing by 8, and leaked reports say that the Hispanic Heritage Night promotion isn't selling nearly as well as hoped. When it rains, it pours.

Trump grabs Lewandowski, yanks him violently out of the campaign

Captain "We-Don't-Win-Anymore" saw his national poll losing streak reach one month yesterday when a Monmouth University poll found him trailing Hillary Clinton by 7 points among registered voters and 8 points among likely voters. Trump's solution: Fire Corey Lewandowski, the relative novice campaign manager who helped win the nomination for a candidate without prior political or military experience. Trump stood by Lewandowski earlier this year following altercations with Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and a protester at a Trump rally, but something changed in the last three months that led to yesterday's firing — and Lewandowski wouldn't say what happened in a CNN interview yesterday. (Good instinct, save it for the best-selling tell-all book.)

Sources told New York magazine that Lewandowski was pressed for ideas to improve Trump's numbers, and all he could come up with was 1) leak Trump's pick for vice president; or 2) ask the electorate if you can do some book reports or something for extra credit. Donald was impressed with neither idea, so Lewandowski cleaned out his desk. On the plus side for Trump: Paul Manafort, campaign adviser for presidents Reagan, Bush and Bush, is now in charge (presumably). Lewandowski's departure may be the start of the long-awaited Trump rebrand.

(Also, did anyone else catch that part where Trump already knows who his VP nominee will be? Seems like we should be talking about that more.)

It's money that matters

As we mentioned yesterday, Hillary's campaign is already up and running, with $23 million in advertising already being fast-forwarded through on DVRs in every battleground state. And there's way more where that came from. NBC News says she has $42 million available to burn over the next 20 weeks before the general election. Additionally, a Clinton-affiliated super PAC has another $51.9 million after raising $12.1 million in May, and they say they have commitments for an additional $45 million.

In contrast, Trump's campaign — which, it should be noted, has eschewed campaign donations from the very beginning — started June with $1.3 million in the bank, and that was after Trump the billionaire loaned Trump the candidate $2 million. (On a side note, how weird would it be to owe yourself millions of dollars? Always ducking your own phone calls, hoping not to bump into yourself out on the street. That's no way to live.) Twitter jumped on the report with the hashtag #TrumpSoPoor because Twitter will always kick you when you're down.

Think different. Hold up ... not THAT different

Apple apparently will hold off on donating cash or technical support to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next month, according to an unnamed source for Politico. A spokesperson for the hosting committee confirmed that Apple was not among current donors. Apple has yet to chime in, so it's possible that they're just trying to drive the check over directly and they're using Apple Maps for directions.

If Apple is indeed out, it's a change from 2012, when they donated to both Democratic and Republican conventions. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, had called for a boycott of Apple products earlier this year, which may have factored into the company's decision. Other corporations withholding or reducing donations to the GOP convention include Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Ford, UPS and Motorola; HP apparently is out for both Republicans and Democrats.

Meanwhile, Airbnb's CEO said yesterday that Trump was on the wrong side of history. Ironically enough, after Trump supporter Roger Stone threatened to reveal convention delegates' hotel room numbers, Airbnb is looking like a pretty sweet option for Cleveland convention-goers.

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