(CNN) — The President of U.S, Donald Trump, shook leadership of his campaign on Wednesday by announcing the promotion of Bill Stepien as campaign manager and the demotion of Brad Parscale, who was fulfilling that role.
The announcement comes on the same day that two national polls showed the president was behind presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden by up to double digits.
Parscale’s future had been in serious doubt for weeks. In addition to the president’s bad numbers in the polls, Trump He was furious after a highly publicized return to the campaign failed in late June. A planned rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma fell far short of expectations after Parscale predicted massive crowds, not only within the 19,000-seat arena but also outside.
In the weeks leading up to the event, Parscale predicted that up to 100,000 people would turn up to support the President. Instead, a sparse crowd of just over 6,000 arrived, the outdoor event was canceled, and Trump was embarrassed, putting much of the blame on Parscale, who personally offered Tulsa as one of the venues for the return of the president to the trail.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Parscale at the meetings for attendance. Parscale didn’t know he was demoted until a few hours before Wednesday night’s announcement, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. But after a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Stepien on Tuesday, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner informed Parscale of the decision, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
“I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the position of manager of the Trump Campaign,” the president said in a publication of Facebook. “Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a long time and spearheaded our tremendous digital and data strategies, will continue in that role, while being the Campaign’s Senior Advisor. They were both very involved in our historic 2016 victory and I hope we have a great and very important second victory together. This should be much easier as our survey numbers are increasing rapidly, the economy is improving, vaccines and therapy are soon to come, and Americans want safe streets and communities. ”
A senior advisor to the campaign said Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and top aides to both have been discussing Parscale’s move for several days. The adviser described Parscale’s situation as unsustainable. The Trump family has been angered in recent weeks by reports of how much money Parscale was making in his role, including stories about his ownership of a Ferrari. Parscale, the adviser said, had been advised to stay low-key and out of the limelight, advice he apparently did not take.
The adviser said Stepien, Jason Miller and Jeff DeWitt are now considered to be running the day-to-day operations of the campaign.
CNN has reached out to Parscale for comment, but has yet to respond. A source told CNN that despite the degradation, he plans to keep the campaign.
A former ally
Parscale had been praised by the President and his allies as a digital guru who helped secure Trump’s first electoral effort, and became the manager of Trump’s re-election campaign in early 2018.
He worked for the Trump family years before the tycoon ran for the presidential nomination and rose to lead the campaign’s data analysis team in June 2016. After Trump won, Parscale worked with America First Policies, an organization politics favorable a Trump.
Parscale brought that goodwill to his role by directing the entire campaign. He accepted the job in February 2018, but, as the elections approached and the campaign demands took hold, along with the curve of the covid-19 pandemic, there was growing concern that his lack of political experience would begin. to be evident.
“It was only a matter of time” before Parscale was removed from his role as campaign manager, said a senior advisor to the campaign. “His inexperience hindered the campaign.”
Parscale was also the target of the president’s frustrations in late April, when Trump was furious at the decline in his poll numbers and faced a flurry of criticism for suggesting that ingesting disinfectant could be effective against the coronavirus.
In a call, three people familiar with the matter said, Trump yelled at Parscale and chastised him for the poll numbers. At one point in the call, Trump threatened to sue him.
Trump denied screaming at Parscale, and two sources said the president and Parscale sorted things out soon after.
While it was clear within the campaign that Parscale’s favor within the President’s orbit was declining, his downgrade was still a surprise to many.
Most campaign advisers learned of the news with Trump’s post on Facebook Wednesday night, sources report to CNN.
Officials told CNN in recent days that while Parscale had lost influence and won Trump’s ire, he would likely remain the manager of the campaign at least in name, even as other advisers have already begun taking over more parts. important strategic decisions.
Parscale’s relationship with Trump, however, soured significantly in the wake of the Tulsa campaign debacle.
“He doesn’t like Brad,” said a Trump adviser last week, noting that Trump has frequently interrupted Parscale during meetings and disagrees with almost every position he takes, and sometimes eventually agrees with it. position when it is later reiterated by another advisor in the room.
“It is very clear that when Brad offers a position, Trump decides to be against it,” said the adviser.
But many see the role of campaign manager as impossible. Kushner has one foot within the White House and one foot within the campaign and was known for hiring people without informing Parscale. And Trump often attributed the poor polls to his campaign employees, rather than his own actions.
Parscale also enjoys a close relationship with the President’s children, and his firm, Parscale Strategy, has been used to pay prominent figures close to the family: Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., and Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump. Both have advisory and fundraising roles in the campaign.
Stepien, a escena
Stepien met with the president Tuesday at the White House to discuss the possible move, according to a source familiar with the situation. He joined Trump’s first presidential campaign in August 2016.
He previously served as national director of John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008 and was political director of New Hampshire in President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election effort.
Stepian, a former senior aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, was fired amid the Bridgegate scandal, but was ultimately not charged in a federal investigation.
Before his dismissal, Stepien was expected to lead Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“Bill is the most talented political agent in the United States. He understands political operations, he understands the field, he understands engagement and metrics in a way that is unparalleled, ”said Matt Mowers, a candidate for Congress from New Hampshire and a former adviser to the Christie and Trump administration.
Kushner recruited Stepien to join the Trump campaign, and the two enjoy a close relationship.
Stepien’s understanding of the data and metrics will be vital as the president seeks to change poll numbers in key battlefield states. He has experience in turning administration successes on very specific topics into personalized messages targeted at very specific groups of voters.
“The most important thing Bill must do is gather all the resources of the campaign and the Republican National Congress to ensure that the President reaches the metrics he needs to win in these states battlefield. Part of this will be for the president to articulate the vision for the next four years, ”said a source close to Stepien.
Kushner strengthens, but Trump is in control
The appointment of a new campaign manager doesn’t change a fact, a Republican close to the campaign tells CNN: Kushner is still effectively in charge of the reelection campaign.
“Jared is and has been running almost everything,” said a senior Republican close to the campaign. “This does not change that.”
The Republican close to the campaign made it clear that the stakes are even higher for Kushner.
A Republican strategist close to the campaign said the move to demote Parscale and promote Stepien means: “Jared owned (the campaign) before, but he really controls it now.”
But ultimately, the Trump campaign is still under the President’s control.
A senior White House official told CNN that only Trump can change his campaign.
“Brad is not the one sending the message,” the official said. “Brad is not the one who refuses to wear a mask. He (Trump) is not focused. Everyone has told him that. Nothing has changed”.
Some of the President’s aides within the White House have been skeptical of Parscale, whose political insight they questioned and whose lifestyle they found unpleasant.
Many of the president’s advisers are frustrated that Trump himself does not appear to have adopted a coherent campaign message or failed to take the necessary steps to save his reelection prospects.
A senior Trump aide echoed this by telling CNN that unless the president controls the virus, he is in grave danger.
Kushner and all the campaign officials in the world cannot fix that, the adviser said.
CNN’s Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak, Dana Bash and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
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