Trump fires Corey Lewandowski as campaign manager
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump fired Corey Lewandowski as campaign manager on Monday, seeking to re-calibrate his organization after a stream of criticism about the divisive political operative who directed his presidential bid since its launch a year ago.
After a number of advisers — including his children — had raised questions with Trump about Lewandowski's aggressive style, the campaign issued a short statement early Monday saying only that he "will no longer be working with the campaign."
Trump told Fox News that Lewandowski is "a good man" and "we've had great success," but "I think it’s time now for a different kind of a campaign."
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Lewandowski, who helped engineer Trump's unprecedented run toward the Republican presidential nomination, downplayed reports of campaign in-fighting, saying he he was "honored" and "grateful" to have worked with the New York businessman and will continue to support his presidential bid.
His strategy was to “Let Trump be Trump," Lewandowski told MSNBC, and the presumptive nominee has “had his heart and finger on the pulse of the American people for a long time.”
Trump, who has been slipping in polls in recent weeks in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, met with remaining aides Monday about future campaign plans amid rising Republican anxiety.
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"Firing your campaign manager in June is never a good sign," said Republican political consultant Kevin Madden after the announcement.
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Lewandowski, spotted at the presumptive nominee's side during last week's nationwide campaign tour, learned about his fate early Monday.
The former campaign manager clashed with many colleagues, according to two people briefed on the dismissal who were not authorized to speak publicly, including senior adviser Paul Manafort and the candidate's children, who supported the leadership change.
Among the complaints: Lewandowski blocked some of the hires Manafort wanted to make in order to beef up the campaign.
The campaign manager also fought with members of the Republican National Committee who are assisting with campaign fundraising.
Lewandowski's departure is part of an effort to develop a bigger campaign team headed into the fall contest with Clinton, one that includes more officials with previous campaign experience.
One associate said the Lewandowski move has been in the works for weeks.
After news of Lewandowski's dismissal became public, Trump aide Michael Caputo tweeted "Ding dong the witch is dead!" and included a link to the celebrated song from the film The Wizard of Oz.
Caputo himself resigned after the tweet became public, saying in a letter to Manafort that it was "too exuberant a reaction to this personnel move" and "a distraction from the kind of campaign you want to run."
Republicans have long questioned the direction of the Trump campaign, and reports have emerged of fundraising troubles and staff in-fighting.
A number of prominent members of the GOP have said they will not vote for the businessman in November, and other Republicans have declined to outright endorse their party's presumptive nominee. They cite any number of Trump comments, from his criticism of a judge's "Mexican heritage" to his claiming credit for forecasting the recent terrorist attack in Orlando.
The publicity surrounding Lewandowski did not help his cause.
A Florida police department investigated Lewandowski in March after a reporter from Breitbart News accused him of assault for grabbing her arm following a Trump news conference. The campaign manager was charged with simple battery, but the state declined to prosecute the case.
The reporter involved in that incident, Michelle Fields, tweeted after Monday's announcement: "Hey @CLewandowski_ I hear @BreitbartNews is hiring." (Fields left Breitbart in protest of the way the news organization handled the incident.)
At that time, Trump resisted calls to dismiss Lewandowski.
"I don't discard people," Trump said in March. "I stay with people."
In the months since, the Trump campaign appears to have split into two teams, said Republican consultant Ryan Williams: Team Lewandowski and Team Manafort.
"Hopefully, it will be consolidated into one team," Williams said.
Williams said "this is the first major public admission from Trump that his campaign is not doing well," though the candidate himself also needs to improve in the weeks ahead.
Trump "needs to put down his Twitter account and conduct himself in a more presidential manner," he added.
Lewandowski, meanwhile, will still be involved in the campaign in one capacity — the New Hampshire resident will head up his state's delegation to the Republican national convention next month in Cleveland.
"I look forward to being at the convention," Lewandowski said on MSNBC.
