Did Trump pull out of New Jersey?
Donald Trump's campaign closed a New Jersey campaign headquarters not long after it opened, leaving Politico (and many Republicans) to question whether he was ever serious about contesting the blue state.
Not so long ago, Republican Donald J. Trump was boasting that he'd contest New Jersey in the presidential election - along with New York, California, and other Democratic bastions in the electoral college.
Now, polls show the celebrity businessman is in trouble in classic red states like Georgia, Utah and Arizona - and Politico reported Friday that the campaign seems to have pulled out of the Garden State.
The website cited an Edison state headquarters for the Trump campaign, opened to great fanfare May 3, but now abandoned; it also said Trump appears to have no field staff working to get out the vote.
Perhaps winning New Jersey was a stretch. The state has not been carried by a GOP presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush won it in 1988, and its voters have not sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate since the 1970s.
But optimism was bubbling at the end of May, when Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he thought he could win New Jersey. "I mean, I love New Jersey," he said. "I am New Jersey. Like a second home. I have property there. I have a lot of employees there. And frankly, I think we're going to do well."
Trump's campaign now says the Edison office was intended to be temporary all along, in use just until the New Jersey primary June 7. Trump effectively clinched the party's nomination on May 3 - the very day the outpost held its grand opening - with a victory in the Indiana primary.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the campaign is competing hard in the state.
"The Trump primary campaign office closed up shop as planned after the June primary election, and, as was intended all along, we are working with the NJ GOP to locate our staff and general election headquarters with them later this month," Miller said in a statement.
Republicans have complained about an anemic Trump ground-game even in more competitive states, like Pennsylvania.
Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said last month the organization has 300 people on the ground in Pennsylvania, staffing 30 offices. They have started airing TV ads.
Trump's campaign, meanwhile, is so far relying on the 60-person state Republican Party staff for help, but says it plans to hire more staffers.