Donald Trump is firing campaign manager Corey Lewandowski less than a month before Republicans head to Cleveland for the party’s national convention.
“The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Monday in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future,” Hicks added.
The sudden dismissal of Trump’s right-hand man comes as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces increased pressure from party leaders to professionalize his campaign and shake his blustery temperament.
Unlike campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who’s fashioned himself as a voice of reason within the Trump campaign, pushing it to be slightly more traditional, Lewandowski long preferred a hands-off approach in dealing with the billionaire.
“The motto of the campaign has been and will continue to be ‘Let Mr. Trump be Mr. Trump,'” he told CNN in April. One month later, reports surfaced of a growing rift between Manafort and Lewandowski as the two men remained at odds over their conflicting visions for the campaign.
RCP General Election Polling – Clinton vs. Trump InsideGov
Sources familiar with Lewandowski’s departure told the Times that a campaign shake-up in preparation for the general election had been discussed for quite some time. Lewandowski maintained his campaign manager title after being charged with misdemeanor battery against a female reporter earlier this year, though his level of influence was reduced after controversy surrounding the incident followed.
Depending on his replacement, the decision to ax Lewandowski could serve to benefit the Trump campaign, particularly as the candidate seeks to formally secure the GOP nomination without causing Republicans much trouble at their convention next month. Trump has also faced a significant slump in recent matchup polls against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A Reuters-Ipsos survey released last week showed the billionaire trailing his Democratic opponent by 9 percentage points – a gap that’s led dozens of anti-Trump delegates to push for a rules change at the convention to open the door to nominating a candidate they believe would be more competitive than him in November.
At least one campaign official celebrated the news of Lewandowski’s dismissal on Monday, while others familiar with the campaign’s operations reportedly claimed he was let go at the urging of Trump’s children, who have played an active role in their father’s White House bid.
Michael Caputo, who serves as director of Trump’s New York campaign, referenced the famous Wizard of Oz song, “Ding-Dong! the Witch is Dead,” in his reaction to Lewandowski’s firing. Meanwhile, Trump’s senior adviser Barry Bennett told Fox News that Manafort is now “totally in charge” of the billionaire’s general election campaign.
