There’s a moment in every campaign when the public can feel the ground shift — when the frontrunner stops acting like a frontrunner and starts acting like someone who sees the numbers tightening. That’s what we’re watching right now in the 6th District.
When Hillary Clinton endorsed April McClain Delaney, she did it plainly and without hesitation. She said April “fights for women, children, and working families.” Planned Parenthood followed with its own endorsement, citing April’s long, consistent record on reproductive health. These weren’t surprises. They were the natural continuation of decades of work April has done in the trenches — from partnering with Secretary Clinton to secure historic NIH funding on children’s health, to her long involvement with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
That’s the backdrop.
So when David Trone rolled out a TV ad trying to blur the lines and imply he has some kind of Hillary Clinton endorsement, it landed with a thud. What he actually has is a form‑letter thank‑you note for a charitable contribution — the same kind of letter thousands of donors receive. According to people close to the Clintons, he does not have permission to use her name or likeness as an endorsement. And he certainly doesn’t have the endorsement itself. That belongs to April, and it still stands.
No amount of creative editing can change the public record: Trone has contributed nearly $800,000 to right‑wing, anti‑choice Republicans — including some who spent years attacking the Clintons and President Obama. That’s not speculation. That’s FEC data.
April, by contrast, has spent her career working with Democrats, not bankrolling Republicans. Her endorsements reflect that: Hillary Clinton, Governor Wes Moore, Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. These are real, active, intentional endorsements — not donor correspondence repurposed for campaign season.
Now, here’s where my own read of the situation comes in.
In my opinion, Trone’s sudden attempt to inflate a thank‑you letter into an endorsement looks like the move of a candidate who feels the race slipping away. It has the energy of panic — the kind that hits when a campaign realizes the primary may not be going its way and starts scrambling for anything that might change the trajectory.
And I’ll say something else that’s my opinion, based on watching him closely over the years: the strain of this campaign seems to be wearing on him. The heavy drinking he’s long been known for and the constant pressure of a tightening race don’t mix well. That’s not a medical diagnosis. It’s simply my observation of a man who looks increasingly rattled by the possibility of losing a Democratic primary he once assumed he would dominate.
But the voters will sort all of that out. They always do.
What’s clear — and what’s documented — is that April McClain Delaney has the real endorsements, the real relationships, and the real record. Everything else is noise.
April votes with the GOP and priased ICE... she is a centrist that enables fascists