US Election: Trump restrategizes, replaces campaign manager
President Donald Trump has announced plan to replace his longtime campaign manager.
While disclosing this on his Facebook page on Wednesday July 15, 2020, Trump stated that the move was aimed at reinforcing his re-election bid to challenge Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election.
Trump said that campaign manager Brad Parscale would be replaced by Bill Stepien, who has been the deputy campaign manager.
He stated that Parscale would shift to a role focused on digital and data strategy.
The president has lost confidence in Parscale, whom he blamed for a botched Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally last month that drew a much smaller crowd than he predicted.
A source close to the campaign said Trump has been anxious about the polls “and struck at the most visible target he could,” adding that Parscale has been “a straight-shooter about the president’s challenges.”
Stepien, a longtime Republican strategist, is well known to both Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been playing a more active role in the campaign.
Stepien was political director at the White House before moving to the campaign.
Trump, however, lauded Parscale and Stepien for their efforts towards his 2016 victory in the U.S. presidential election.
“This one should be a lot easier as our poll numbers are rising fast, the economy is getting better, vaccines and therapeutics will soon be on the way, and Americans want safe streets and communities,” Trump wrote.