CloudCommerce, Inc. , is a company based in the United States which provides digital marketing and analytics solutions. The company was traded OTC Pink as CLWD, but has since been renamed to AiAdvertising, trading as AiAd.
82-501: Brad Parscale (born January 3, 1976) is an American digital consultant and political advisor who served as the senior adviser for data and digital operations for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign . He previously served as the digital media director for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and as campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign from February 2018 to July 2020, being replaced by Bill Stepien . In September 2020, he stepped away from his company and
164-770: A "full-fledged presidential campaign website." Throughout the Republican primary, Parscale was responsible on behalf of Trump for managing the website, as well as digital media strategies and online fundraising campaigns. In June 2016, Parscale was officially named digital media director for the Trump for President campaign, overseeing all aspects of digital media and online fundraising, as well as traditional media strategy, like radio and television placements. In January 2017, Parscale, along with senior Trump aide Nick Ayers , launched America First Policies , an organization to promote President Trump's agenda and White House initiatives. Parscale
246-942: A GOP fundraiser. CloudCommerce The company began operating in Texas in 1999, and incorporated in Nevada in 2002 as Warp 9. It had subsidiaries of Roaming Messenger Inc. and Latinocare Management Corp. Andrew Van Noy became director, president, and CEO in 2012. Van Noy was previously a VP at PageTransformer and has a BS from BYU. His annual compensation as an executive officer is $ 195,000 plus 18 million unexercised options as of 2019. Gregory Boden, CFO, has annual compensation of $ 120,000 plus 70 million unexercised options as of 2019. As of March 2020, CloudCommerce subsidiaries include CLWD Operations (previously Indaba Group), Parscale Digital (marketing), WebTegrity (website development), Data Propria (data science), Parscale Media (web hosting), and Giles Design Bureau (creative design). The company acquired
328-514: A campaign and a super PAC. Red State received more than $ 900,000 in business from America First Action. On August 30, 2019, CNN reported that a pro-Trump super PAC paid thousands to a company owned by Parscale's wife. In March 2020, The New York Times reported that Parscale was paying $ 15,000 (~$ 17,399 in 2023) a month to Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle , the wife and girlfriend respectively of Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. , for campaign work. On April 29, 2020, CNN reported that Trump
410-695: A data analysis startup . In October 2021, he was working for the 2022 Ohio gubernatorial campaign of former Republican congressman Jim Renacci against incumbent Republican Governor Mike DeWine . On July 12, 2022, the 7th hearing of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack reported that after the attack, Parscale exchanged text messages with senior campaign advisor and "Save America" rally liaison Katrina Pierson . In these messages, Parscale equated Donald Trump's rhetoric with fomenting civil war and blamed his former boss for
492-673: A father in July 1999, several weeks after graduating from college. His daughter's mother was a 22-year-old woman whom he had met while she was working at a San Antonio tanning salon. The couple married in March 2003. Parscale filed for divorce in August 2004; the divorce was finalized in October 2007. In the summer of 2012, he married Candice Blount. The couple had a twin son and daughter who were born in 2016 and died shortly thereafter. On September 27, 2020, Parscale
574-541: A five-year lease for nearly $ 120,000 per year. CloudCommerce also acquired Parscale Media for $ 1 million in cash. At the time CloudCommerce valued the Parscale Creative name at nearly $ 2 million, later stating "We expected to retain the name and brand, leveraging the good reputation and client following. The name Parscale was revered in the digital advertising space." The company also valued the Parscale Media brand for
656-674: A major grassroots campaign on Facebook that brought in funding quickly from across the U.S. Parscale attributed the success of his vast social media presence to using the assistance offered by companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Google. He said that because the Trump campaign intended to spend $ 100 million on social media, companies in that area were prepared to assist the campaign in using that money effectively. The Washington Post later wrote that, in light of Trump's narrow electoral margin, Parscale could "justifiably take credit" for his victory. The database of voter information that drove Parscale's social media advertising campaigns in
738-406: A number of high-profile figures were spotted in the hotel's lobby during the event. Press were barred from the event, a break of precedent since reporters were permitted to the first fundraisers held by each of Trump's two predecessors. Trump's decision to host the event at a venue from which he personally profits garnered criticism. Throughout June, the president also gave speeches at events in
820-530: A penny-stock firm, in a deal valued at $ 9 million in stock, and were renamed Parscale Digital. CloudCommerce also acquired San Antonio-based Parscale Media, but not Florida-based Parscale Strategy; Parscale became a member of the CloudCommerce board of directors. In June 2018, Giles Design Bureau was broken out as a separate entity, run by Giles, with a staff of 15; Giles remained a major stockholder in CloudCommerce. In early 2015, Parscale's firm, Giles-Parscale,
902-659: A series of meetings at the Washington, D.C. , offices of the Republican National Committee (RNC) to outline campaign strategy. On June 1, President Trump announced his plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement saying, "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh , not Paris." Soon afterwards, the campaign announced it would hold a Pittsburgh Not Paris Rally across from the White House. The rally
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#1732927312961984-635: A staff of around twenty employees. Trump gave a speech on April 28 at an event for the National Rifle Association of America . Trump held his fourth campaign rally on April 29 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania , which coincided with the hundredth day of Trump's presidency. It also took place the same night as the White House Correspondents' Dinner , which Trump did not attend. In addition to Trump, Vice President Pence also spoke at
1066-402: A technology investment partnership (Turner Parscale LLC); and was involved in a physical therapy business. By May 2015, Giles-Parscale owned a 18,000 square foot building and had 46 employees and 800 clients. In April 2012, the company was hired to build a website for Trump International Realty, after a deliberately low bid of $ 10,000. That led to further work in the Trump family: Trump Winery ,
1148-399: A terrorist plot that did not exist. The purpose was to help Trump win re-election. Presidential approval ratings , while rising slightly throughout the second half of his first term, have generally shown Trump to be one of the least popular presidents in the history of modern opinion polling during a presidential election year. Political observers point out that presidential job approval
1230-522: Is highly partisan, with Gallup writing in March 2020: The 92% approval among Republicans and 42% among independents are close to his highest ratings for those groups. Meanwhile, his approval rating among Democrats, currently 8%, hasn't been above 13% since he took office in February 2017. The current 84-point gap in approval between Republicans and Democrats is just a few points shy of the record polarization Gallup found in late January and early February. In
1312-544: The 2000 election . In his second year, 45% of his domestic travel was to these states, and his third year 39% of his domestic travel was to these states. According to the Associated Press , a data analysis firm named Data Propria , launched in May 2018 to provide ad-targeting services and run by former officials of Cambridge Analytica , is working on public relations for the Trump 2020 re-election campaign. Emerging from
1394-454: The 2020 convention , the campaign agenda for a second term was primarily to build on the first term agenda. As some George Floyd protests included violent incidents, Trump emphasized "law and order" as a major campaign theme, directing particular criticism at antifa . Trump and attorney general Bill Barr asserted that antifa had organized the protests, although there was no evidence to support that. Barr had also baselessly linked antifa to
1476-637: The Black Lives Matter movement. Three August 2020 DHS draft reports did not mention antifa as a domestic terrorism risk and ranked white supremacy as the top risk, higher than that of foreign terrorist groups. Brian Murphy — until August 2020, the DHS undersecretary for intelligence and analysis — asserted in a September 2020 whistleblower complaint that secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli instructed him "to modify intelligence assessments to ensure they matched up with
1558-537: The COVID-19 pandemic , the company received a $ 780,680 federally backed small business loan from Cache Valley Bank on May 5 as part of the Paycheck Protection Program . CBS News stated Brad Parscale remains the largest shareholder of CloudCommerce. There have been instances of financial misconduct reportedly committed by its senior member Andrew van Noy prior to joining CloudCommerce, and Jonathan Lei,
1640-572: The Eric Trump Foundation , and Caviar Complexe, Melania Trump 's line of skin-care products. It also led to the firm's extensive work for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign , and Parscale becoming the campaign's digital director. In mid-2017, Parscale spun off his political work to a new company, Parscale Strategy, and relocated that business to Florida. In August 2017, the remaining company operations were purchased by CloudCommerce ,
1722-529: The Republican primary and did much of the social media advertising from his own home. Parscale was able to utilize Facebook advertising to directly target individual voters in swing states . Parscale later said that he was able to target specific audiences who cared about infrastructure and promoted Trump and his message of improving American infrastructure. Although he hired Cambridge Analytica to assist with microtargeting and Cambridge Analytica stated that it
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#17329273129611804-609: The University of Texas at San Antonio . His father relocated NewTek to San Antonio while Parscale was playing basketball there. Parscale left UT-San Antonio after one year; a knee injury cost him his sports scholarship. He transferred to Trinity University , also in San Antonio, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance, international business and economics, graduating in 1999. Parscale moved to Orange County, California , following graduation from college, to work for his father, then
1886-479: The " fake news " media refused to report the successes of the administration, but Forbes pointed out that the ad itself cited mainstream media sources including CNBC , The Boston Globe and The New York Times . Because of this accusation against the news media, CNN decided to stop running the ad, a decision that campaign manager Michael Glassner criticized as an action to "censor our free speech". ABC , CBS and NBC later joined CNN in refusing to play
1968-690: The $ 1 million Parscale Media acquisition at that time, which included the $ 100,000 brand name. Brad Parscale resigned from the Company's Board of Directors in December 2019. He still operates the Parscale Strategy company, which held the Giles-Parscale office furniture lease. The company also acquired WebTegrity in November 2017 for $ 900,000 in stock. Giles-Parscale was paid $ 94 million for its work on
2050-684: The 2016 death of their prematurely born twins. Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2020 Donald Trump , a member of the Republican Party , sought re-election in the 2020 United States presidential election . He was inaugurated as president of the United States on January 20, 2017, and filed for re-election with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on the same day. Trump began his re-election campaign unusually early for an incumbent president, beginning to spend money on
2132-551: The 2016 election was dubbed " Project Alamo ", a name which eventually encompassed all of the associated fundraising and political advertising efforts. On February 27, 2018, President Trump named Parscale his 2020 re-election campaign manager. On March 2, 2018, Parscale founded "firewall company" Red State Data and Digital to allow working with the America First super PAC during the midterm elections , which Parscale said did not violate election rules prohibiting coordination between
2214-429: The 2020 election. The New York Times reported that Parscale "was often the subject of unproven accusations from his colleagues — as well as Mr. Trump — that he was pocketing money from the campaign." On September 30, 2020, Parscale provided a statement to Politico announcing that he was "stepping away from my company and any role in the campaign for the immediate future to focus on my family and get help dealing with
2296-516: The April 29 rally. On May 1, the campaign announced that they were spending $ 1.5 million on national advertisements touting Trump's accomplishments in the first hundred days. The ad buy, which included advertisements targeted at voters who supported specific agenda items of Trump's presidency, came approximately 42 months before election day 2020, or any other major party's candidate declarations. FactCheck.org found several inaccuracies in
2378-527: The CEO of animation-software company Electric Image; Parscale worked as the sales manager. The company filed for bankruptcy in August 2002, and Parscale and his parents returned to San Antonio. Electric Image animation software was reconstituted as Electric Image Animation System 3D (eias3d.com). In San Antonio, Parscale became a website developer. In October 2005, he incorporated his website business, which mostly produced simple websites for brick-and-mortar businesses in
2460-482: The Trump 2016 U.S. Presidential election campaign, and gained notoriety for its expenditure on Cambridge Analytica psychometrics and Facebook advertisements. In February 2018, CloudCommerce created the subsidiary Data Propria , employing at least four former Cambridge Analytica staffers. The company was ranked as 235th fastest growing company in North America on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500 . In 2019
2542-463: The Trump campaign on boosting Parscale's social media pages, and $ 39 million had been paid to two companies owned by Parscale. The campaign also purchased ads which appeared to be intended to please Trump himself, including more than $ 1 million in ads for the Washington, D.C., media market. Parscale was the only one of Trump's first four campaign managers to give Trump's campaign a maximum contribution for
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2624-467: The Trump campaign. Parscale began working for the Trump Organization in 2011, developing and designing websites and creating and managing digital media strategies. In early 2015, Trump hired Parscale and his firm, Giles-Parscale, to create a website for his exploratory campaign. When Trump declared himself a Republican candidate in 2015, he asked Parscale to update the exploratory campaign site into
2706-411: The United States, Trump's campaign website purged itself of all campaign statements from the 2016 campaign. Campaign chairman Michael Glassner later announced that the website was being redesigned. The redesign of Trump's campaign website was seen by media sources as laying the groundwork for a full-bodied reelection campaign. The Washington Examiner 's David Druckert pointed out on Twitter that
2788-472: The ad. Lara Trump, a consultant to the campaign and the daughter-in-law of the president, called the ad removals "an unprecedented act of censorship in America that should concern every freedom-loving citizen". On May 8, shortly after reporter Cecilia Vega asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer about statements that Trump's 2016 campaign had issued in regard to temporarily banning Muslims from entering
2870-508: The advertisement, and Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune described the 30-second advertisement as being, "stuffed with Trump's signature misleading puffery". Additionally, original versions of the ad showed Trump shaking hands with H. R. McMaster , an active-duty military member who was barred from participating in any political advocacy while in uniform. Subsequent airings of the advertisement substituted this clip. The ad claimed that
2952-449: The area. Parscale has said that he started the company with an initial investment of $ 500; real estate records show that he owned three San Antonio homes at the time. After Parscale worked on several projects with graphic and web designer Jill Giles (who had her own small firm), the company Giles–Parscale was formed in July 2011. In early 2013, Parscale was also running another company, DevDemon, which marketed add-ons for web development; in
3034-614: The benefits Trump was speculated to obtain from such trips is more favorable coverage from local news outlets in the areas visited. Most of Trump's trips to Wisconsin were focused on the Milwaukee area in the southeast part of the state, which Trump won in 2016 by a smaller margin than Mitt Romney had in 2012 . On July 1, Trump delivered a speech at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during an event honoring veterans. The event
3116-417: The blurred lines between campaigning and governance in the White House. For instance, George W. Bush embarked on 416 domestic trips during his first three years in office. This was 114 more than his predecessor Bill Clinton made in his first three years. In his first year, 36% of Bush's domestic trips were to the 16 states that were considered swing states after having been decided the closest margins during
3198-531: The company's revenue was $ 9.2 million, ending with a net loss of $ 10.1 million (which included the $ 6.76 million writeoff). In 2018 the company's revenue was $ 11.6 million revenue, ending with a net loss of $ 2.9 million in 2018. The company's auditor stated "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." At the end of 2019, the company's ownership was Brad Parscale (34.9%), Andrew Van Noy (15.8%), Zachary Bartlett (13.9%), Ryan Shields (9.5%), Blake Gindi (8.7%), and Gregory Boden (4.1%). As part of
3280-510: The continental United States, while Trump had so far visited only the Eastern and Central time zones. Obama and Bush also took both overnight and multiple-day trips throughout the country while Trump's domestic travels had largely been limited to a two-hour flight radius of Washington, D.C., and his overnight stays were at Camp David , Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster . One of
3362-531: The country throughout March, some of which resulted in violence. The campaign's second rally was held a month later in Nashville on March 15, and coincided with the 250th birthday of Andrew Jackson . Prior to the rally, Trump paid tribute to Jackson and laid a wreath at his tomb. During the rally, Trump promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act ('Obamacare') and defended his revised travel ban , which
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3444-444: The day of his inauguration . Trump launched his re-election campaign earlier in his presidency than his predecessors did. Barack Obama ( 2012 ), George W. Bush ( 2004 ), Bill Clinton ( 1996 ), George H. W. Bush ( 1992 ) and Ronald Reagan ( 1984 ) all declared their candidacies for reelection in the third year of their presidencies. His immediate successor, Joe Biden ( 2024 ), also declared his candidacy for reelection in
3526-477: The day of his inauguration, Trump filed a form with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) declaring that he qualified as a candidate for the 2020 presidential election . By February 1, 2017, Trump's re-election campaign had already raised over $ 7 million. The first rally organized by the campaign was held on February 18, 2017, in Melbourne, Florida , and was attended by an estimated 9,000 supporters. It
3608-526: The death of supporter Ashli Babbitt . He expressed remorse for helping him become President: One month later, Parscale tweeted the following message to his Twitter followers, but addressed it directly to the ex-President: Statement to Trump: "If they only impeached you twice, you need to run again. Because to change the system you have to kick it in the a#$ . I would love to be the only President to be impeached three times. Because history remembers those that didn't conform. I'm in, are you?” Parscale became
3690-461: The early days of their presidency to garner support for legislation, such rallies differed from Trump's in that they were funded by the White House rather than by campaign committees. One of the advantages of having his campaign committee fund the events is that organizers can more discriminately screen attendees, refusing entry to non-supporters. Trump's February 2017 rally in Melbourne, Florida ,
3772-582: The event in 2015. On June 28, the president hosted a fundraiser at his company's hotel in Washington, D.C., benefitting the Trump Victory Committee , a joint committee that raises funds both for his reelection campaign and for the RNC. The fundraiser was the first event Trump hosted for the Victory Committee since becoming president, as well as the first presidential campaign fundraiser. The event
3854-839: The first time in his presidency that Trump traveled west of the Mississippi River . At the rally, Iowa GOP state chairman Jeff Kaufmann verbally attacked Nebraskan senator Ben Sasse , who was speculated by some as a potential challenger to Trump in the 2020 Republican primaries. Vice President Pence attended Joni Ernst 's 3rd Annual Roast and Ride fundraiser, held on June 3 at the Central Iowa Expo near Boone, Iowa . The previous editions of this event have included presidential campaign appearances. Trump himself had previously attended Ernst's fundraiser in 2016 while campaigning in Iowa, and seven Republican presidential contenders attended
3936-548: The groundwork for a re-election campaign. By that time his campaign offices at Trump Tower already included a staff of about ten people led by Republican strategist Michael Glassner . Glassner's deputy is John Pence, nephew of Vice President Mike Pence . The campaign staff was focused on data-building and fundraising for a 2020 re-election campaign. On January 18, Trump revealed, in an interview with The Washington Post , that he had decided Keep America Great would be his 2020 re-election campaign slogan. Two days later, on
4018-564: The midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in early spring 2020, Trump's approval rating saw a small but notable rally in support , followed by a tick-down in mid-2020. In June and July 2020, public polling showed Trump's approval significantly weakening. The following maps document the frequency with which Trump has visited each state and territory during his presidency. On January 10, 2017, Politico reported that Trump would be keeping his campaign offices in Trump Tower open in order to lay
4100-428: The opinion that a permanent campaign has had a significant impact on recent presidencies argue that decisions by presidents have increasingly been made with considerations to their impact on voter approval. The concept of a permanent campaign also describes the focus which recent presidents have given to electoral concerns during their tenures in office, with the distinction between the time they have spent governing and
4182-478: The overwhelming stress"; campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh confirmed the statement. Following the election, Parscale criticized the Trump campaign's strategy following his removal as campaign manager. He argued that Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately led to his defeat, but echoed Trump's claims of voter fraud as a factor. After the election, Parscale turned to real estate flipping , restarted his political consulting firm, and formed
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#17329273129614264-631: The previous day. On February 24, Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference , an annual event which has often held a presidential straw poll . However, the CPAC 2017 straw poll did not include a preference survey on presidential candidates. On March 4, there were a series of local rallies held by allies of the campaign in some fifty cities. Several of the rallies were met by counter-demonstrations where some protesters were arrested. Other events were held around
4346-494: The public comments by President Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and 'anarchist' groups" and to downplay the severity of risk associated with white supremacy. Murphy said he refused. The campaign sent a fundraising text message to supporters in September 2020 stating an "ANTIFA ALERT," continuing, "They'll attack your homes if Joe's elected." Top officials tried to keep dossiers on identified protesters, whom they intended to blame for
4428-535: The re-election effort within weeks of his election. From February 2017 onward, Trump held more than 150 rallies and fundraisers for this campaign, visiting key electoral states. The campaign also raised funds and ran two nationwide advertising campaigns. Trump said in several stump speeches that the slogans for the 2020 race would be "Keep America Great" and "Promises Made, Promises Kept". On November 7, 2018, Trump confirmed that Mike Pence would be his vice presidential running mate in 2020. Trump's re-election bid
4510-671: The redesigned website featured an image of Trump with a uniformed military officer on its 'Donate' page, which violated the Department of Defense's regulation that prohibits uniformed military officers from engaging in any political activity. On May 18, Trump hosted chairmen of the Colorado , Iowa , Michigan , New Hampshire , North Carolina , Ohio and Pennsylvania state parties at the White House. Each of their states are considered to be presidential swing states . On May 25, Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric , along with Eric's wife Lara, held
4592-463: The results at the county, state, and federal level. This culminated in the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, for which Trump was impeached a second time . The day after the attack, Trump stated that a "new administration" would be succeeding his, without mentioning president-elect Biden by name, in a video posted on Twitter . Trump ran for re-election again in 2024 and
4674-411: The same reasons, valuing it at $ 100,000. Following the acquisition, Parscale joined CloudCommerce's board of directors. The company wrote off the remaining goodwill and intangibles from the Parscale Creative acquisition as a $ 6 million loss at the end of 2019, which included the indefinite asset of the "Parscale" name they had valued at nearly $ 2 million. CloudCommerce also wrote off $ 744,000 from
4756-457: The size of the rally among "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year". On July 15, 2020, Trump tweeted that Parscale would be replaced in the role of campaign manager by Bill Stepien , but that Parscale would continue to advise the campaign. Parscale's spending decisions for the Trump campaign were questioned after his departure as campaign manager. By that time, more than $ 800,000 had been spent by
4838-657: The swing-states of Florida, Ohio , and Wisconsin . Lara Trump made appearances on behalf of the campaign at events in New York and Texas during the month of June. In New York, Lara spoke at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on June 20 for the annual New York Republican State Committee gala. By the end of June, Trump had visited fewer states in his first six months in office compared to his two immediate predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Both Obama and Bush had visited every time zone in
4920-410: The third year of his presidency . Trump filed the papers for his re-election campaign approximately 47 months prior to the date of the election. In contrast, both Reagan and George H. W. Bush did so approximately twelve, George W. Bush approximately eighteen, and both Clinton and Obama (and later Biden) approximately nineteen months before those elections. While previous presidents had held rallies in
5002-500: The time they have spent campaigning having become blurred. Political observers consider the rise in presidential fundraising as a symptom of the permanent campaign. The disproportionately large amounts of time presidents have spent visiting key electoral states (and a comparatively small amount of time they have spent visiting states that pose little electoral importance to them) has been pointed to as evidence of ulterior electoral motives influencing presidential governance, emblematic of
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#17329273129615084-432: The trademark and domain name for CloudCommerce in 2015. In August 2017, CloudCommerce acquired companies co-owned by Brad Parscale , Donald Trump's digital campaign manager, and his business partner Jill Giles, for $ 7.9 million in stock. This included subsidiaries Giles Design Bureau, Parscale Digital, and Jill Giles' Giles-Parscale company, which leases 8,200 square feet (760 m ) of office space to Parscale Digital on
5166-493: The week, though she later said that her statements had been "misconstrued" and denied that Parscale had been violent toward her. Parscale was detained and involuntarily committed and psychiatrically examined under terms of the Baker Act . No charges were filed related to the incident, though a judge ordered Pascale to turn over his firearms, which he did. Politico reported that the couple had shared that they had felt distressed since
5248-464: Was already eyeing a 2020 run. Trump started spending money on the 2020 race on November 24, 2016 (sixteen days after the end of the 2016 election ). The earliest campaign disbursement that his committees reported was spent towards the 2020 presidential primaries was for the purchase of a Delta Air Lines ticket on this date. Trump officially filed his re-election campaign with the FEC on January 20, 2017,
5330-543: Was angry with Parscale about low poll numbers. In June 2020, while working to get supporters to an upcoming campaign rally with President Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma , Parscale reported that he had received over 800,000 requests for tickets to the event, according to The Washington Times . Despite this claim, many seats remained empty at the 19,000-seat arena. The Tulsa fire marshal estimated that fewer than 6,200 attended. In December 2020, Politico named Parscale's predictions for
5412-772: Was born in Topeka, Kansas . His father, Dwight Parscale, was an assistant attorney general in Kansas who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1974 at age 28 as a Democrat. Dwight Parscale owned a restaurant and operated a string of other businesses over the years, with Brad's mother, Rita. In the 1990s, Dwight Parscale was the CEO of NewTek , a computer products company. Parscale, who is 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), played basketball at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh, Kansas , graduating in 1994. He then attended two junior colleges, playing basketball well enough to get an athletic scholarship at
5494-453: Was co-organized by RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and RNC National Finance Chairman Steve Wynn . The fundraiser was attended by about 300 guests and was reportedly expected to gross $ 10 million. Trump was joined at the event by the first lady and top White House advisors. Among those reported to have been in attendance at the fundraiser were Mica Mosbacher, Dean Heller and Katrina Pierson . Additionally, Harold Hamm and
5576-600: Was considered to be a perennial swing state and the Iowa caucus is scheduled as the earliest presidential primary election. Iowa has also been home to nonbinding straw polls held ahead of the primaries (Trump won the 2015 straw poll among Republican candidates). On June 7, Trump delivered what the New York Daily News described as a "campaign-style speech" in Cincinnati , Ohio. Five days later, reports surfaced that Trump
5658-447: Was elected the 47th president with JD Vance serving as his running mate . Trump's predecessors merged their campaign committees into their party's committee following their election victories. Following his 2016 election victory, Trump eschewed this presidential tradition and retained a separate campaign committee which continued raising funds. In December 2016, the campaign raised $ 11 million. These moves indicated that Trump
5740-479: Was extraordinarily unusual, aspects of a " permanent campaign " are not entirely unprecedented in American politics . Such a phenomenon had a presence in the White House at least as early as the presidency of Bill Clinton . Under the advice of Sidney Blumenthal , Clinton's staff continued to engage in campaign methodology once in office, using polling for assistance in making decisions. Political observers who bolster
5822-573: Was held June 3 at Lafayette Square . The event was sponsored by the Fairfax County Republican Committee and the Republican Party of Virginia . Relatively few people attended the event, with estimates varying from 200 people (including counter-protesters) to "dozens" of supporters. By comparison, more people attended the anti-Trump March for Truth , which was held the same day. Trump began campaigning in Iowa in June. Iowa
5904-409: Was hired to create a website for Donald Trump's exploratory campaign, charging $ 1,500 (~$ 1,928 in 2023) for the work. Between October and December 2015, Giles-Parscale was paid $ 21,000 (~$ 26,395 in 2023) by the Trump campaign. Through the entire election cycle, Giles-Parscale was paid $ 94 million by the Trump campaign, much of which was used to pay for advertising and subcontractors. In 2016, Parscale
5986-414: Was hospitalized after his wife told Fort Lauderdale police that he had guns and he was threatening to harm himself; upon arriving at Parscale's home, an officer reported that Parscale appeared to be distraught and under the influence of alcohol. Officers seized 10 firearms from the home and reported that Parscale's wife had cuts and bruises on her arms and face, which she said Parscale had inflicted earlier in
6068-478: Was making plans to embark on a more expansive tour that would visit several battleground states. Trump held his fifth official campaign rally in Cedar Rapids in eastern Iowa. The area, home to a large population of working class whites , was seen as a strong region for Trump to find a base of political support. The date for the rally, having been changed several times, was ultimately held on June 21, marking
6150-427: Was named the campaign's digital director. Parscale used social media advertisements with an experiment-based strategy of different face expressions, font colors, and slogans like " Basket of Deplorables ." Parscale's specific roles included heading the oversight of the digital advertising, television advertising, small dollar fundraising, direct mail, political and advertising budget, and liaising with Katie Walsh , who
6232-515: Was put on hold by Derrick Watson , a federal judge in Hawaii , hours later. A third rally was held by the campaign in Louisville on March 20. At the rally, Trump promoted efforts to repeal Obamacare . On March 29, it was reported that Lara Trump , the president's daughter-in-law, had been hired as a consultant by the campaign's digital vendor Giles-Parscale . By mid-April, the Trump campaign had
6314-579: Was sponsored by First Baptist Dallas and the Salem Media Group . The event was described as resembling one of Trump's campaign rallies. On July 6, The Hill reported that 2020 campaign merchandise bearing Trump's name (including merchandise supporting and opposing his candidacy) was selling more than those with the names of prospective opponents. First Daughter and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump introduced Vice President Pence at
6396-519: Was the earliest an incumbent president had ever held a re-election campaign rally. During the rally, Trump defended his actions and criticized the media. He referred to a nonexistent incident ("last night in Sweden ...") while criticizing the asylum policies of several European countries. After backlash from the press and the Swedish government, Trump said he was referring to a Fox News program aired
6478-548: Was the earliest campaign rally for an incumbent president. By filing for his campaign as early as he did, Trump gave himself a head start on fundraising. This theoretically helped discourage primary challengers. Since his three predecessors (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama) won re-election, had Trump been reelected, it would have been the first time in American history that four consecutive presidents were elected to two terms. Although Trump's early campaign filing
6560-453: Was the key to Trump's victory, Parscale denied that he gained assistance from the firm because he thinks that Cambridge Analytica's use of psychographics doesn't work. Parscale also said: "I understood early that Facebook was how Donald Trump was going to win. Twitter is how he talked to the people. Facebook was going to be how he won." The Trump campaign initially had solely Donald Trump's personal funding to back his campaign. Parscale set up
6642-585: Was then the Republican National Committee's chief of staff. He was also the head of data science and research, which included polling. Parscale heavily used employees from Facebook , Twitter , Google , and other platforms for the campaign advertisements and embedded them on his staff to navigate the Facebook, Twitter, and Google platforms so that his staff could utilize all capabilities of these platforms. He denied having any assistance linked to Russia . Parscale did not have data scientists or any digital team during
6724-463: Was ultimately unsuccessful; the Democratic Party ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election. This marked the first time since 1992 that an incumbent president lost reelection. Trump refused to accept the results; he and his allies made false and disproven claims of fraud, pressured elections officials, filed several unsuccessful lawsuits, and directly attempted to overturn
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