NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard went on MSNBC to talk about Donald Trump’s legal fees and their impact on his campaign… and Hillyard offered a bold theory.
Hillyard told MSNBC host Katy Tur that former President Trump would soon no longer back able to afford holding his signature rallies.
“Don’t expect to see Donald Trump to be parading around the country, because those events cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on,” Hillyard told Tur. “They’re in a predicament now, whether they like to admit it or not.”
Tur began the exchange with a broad question.
“Let’s start with Trump’s finances. He owes half a billion dollars more — and counting — in legal judgments,” Tur asked Monday on Katy Tur Reports. “How is that putting a strain on his ability to run a campaign?”
Hillyard responded by comparing Trump’s current state to his finances during the 2020 election.
“Let’s just look at 2020, Katy. In that election, for the Biden campaign and their allies. They spent more than 1.6 billion. Compare that to Donald Trump and his allies, who’s just over a billion. That was $600 million less… Joe Biden, barely, was able to win that election in several key states,” Hillyard said.
“Fast forward here to 2024. Not only are they looking at a deficit in finances compared to Biden, but also there’s the reality here at play that $80 billion have already gone towards legal-related expenses over the last two years from Trump-affiliated super PACs. So they’re already starting into a deficit. Add on to the reality here that the RNC is having to figure out how to best fund also Senate and down-ballot races. There are serious question marks for the Trump team and how they’re going to be able to even compete financially with Joe Biden.”
Tur asked about the role of media attention.
“Do they think they need a lot of money going into this campaign, or are they banking on Donald Trump going out there at his various legal stops and campaigning on the courthouse steps?” Tur asked. “Getting earned media, having social media, might they think that is enough?”
“They absolutely believe that earned media is going to offer them a lot. But here’s also a reality at play. It takes manpower. Money can also help towards — this is my my big shtick here — money can help towards actually putting folks on the ground in these states. In the areas where they are going to rely on to pull off victories are in rural parts of Georgia, rural parts of Wisconsin, rural parts of Michigan, rural parts of Arizona. And to get folks that normally don’t vote, you got to go and tell them, ‘We need you to come vote,'” Hillyard concluded.
“And so Bullhead City, Arizona — if you don’t have the staff to finance some actual staff out in those areas, it makes it a lot more harder [sic]. And you can go and have a rally in those places, but those rallies cost $400,000.”
Still, Trump shows no signs of stopping his rallies. He hosted a rally two days after receiving a fine of more than $350 million in New York.
Take a look —