May 8
There was little action from the Trump campaign on Monday.
May 9
In a civil trial, a New York jury found Trump liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, awarding $5 million in damages. Trump took to Truth Social to deny any wrongdoing, once again claiming he didn’t know who E. Jean Carroll was.
May 10
Trump appeared on a CNN town hall at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire. The event covered several hot button issues: he said would pardon people convicted of offenses related to January 6th and reiterated his false claim the 2020 election was fraudulent whilst staying somewhat vague on the issues of a federal abortion ban and Ukraine. Addressing the court verdict of the previous day, he described E. Jean Carroll as a “wack job.”
May 11
Lawyers for the former president filed an appeal against the verdict out of New York.
May 12
Trump prepared to leave Florida for a weekend trip to Iowa.
May 13
Trump was forced to cancel a large-scale outdoor rally in Iowa due to the threat of a tornado. It was an unfortunate turn of events for the campaign as Ron DeSantis made a broadly well-received stop in the state over weekend, giving him some much-needed space on the Iowa airwaves as he fights to retain a foothold in the race. Trump was not totally out of the limelight, however, after he posted two doctored videos on Truth Social which manipulated tape of CNN’s accompanying coverage of Wednesday’s townhall.
May 14
Having not made the trip to Iowa, Trump stayed at home in Florida.
It was another week of legal trouble for Donald Trump and with the cancellation of his Iowa rally, it has not been a smooth week on the campaign trail. However, his polling lead on Ron DeSantis remains commanding and there is little evidence so far that the New York verdict has dampened enthusiasm in his base.