Donald Trump had trouble finding a place to hold Thursday’s rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after his campaign stiffed the city almost $445,000 the last time it was in town, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Originally event organizers wanted to hold the former president’s rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center, but the city refused to even consider it because the campaign still has an outstanding bill from a similar event in 2019. “If you’re not going to pay your bills, we’re just not going to entertain you using city facilities, and that’s the way it should be,” Mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat, said during a press conference. The campaign then found a venue at a private airplane hangar and wanted to shuttle rally goers from a public parking lot at an outdoor amphitheater. But the proposed parking arrangement was shut down because of the details of the contract that governs the lot’s subleases. The Trump campaign responded in its usual calm, measured way, accusing officials of “electoral interference.” State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard wrote back, “Setting aside your highly-charged partisan letter with unfounded accusations… I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the facts for you,” and attached a copy of the contract. Now the campaign is using several parking lots in different parts of the city and encouraging rally goers to use Uber. A win for the gig economy.
