Ledger · Before politics · № 1
The 1999 Reform Party campaign that ended before a single vote was cast
Broken“[paraphrase] Trump announced a presidential exploratory committee on Larry King Live, said he could win, and campaigned in Florida, California and Minnesota — then quit.”
- Promised
- , CNN's Larry King Live
- Re-promised
- 4 times with a fresh deadline
- Topic
- Elections
- Era
- Before politics
What happened
Trump hired Roger Stone to run the exploratory committee, gave interviews as a candidate, and qualified for two Reform Party primaries. After Jesse Ventura — his loudest backer — left the party in February 2000, Trump ended the campaign on the February 14, 2000 broadcast of NBC's Today. He never expanded past the exploratory phase. It set the template for the 2011, 2012 and 2014 teases that followed.