ANALYSIS – Will this change the race dynamic? Earlier I asked whether, amid the media-fueled surge Kamala Harris is currently having, former President Donald Trump should bring his 2016 campaign chief back to his team.
Kellyanne Conway helped him win once, maybe she should help him again.
Well, Conway hasn’t been brought on board, yet. And some are trying to sabotage that possibility with rumors and intrigue.
But Trump appears to be taking Harris seriously by resetting his campaign team by at least bringing in other major 2016 team members, as well as some from 2020.
Critics will claim Trump is desperate, but the unfairly abbreviated campaign for Harris dishonestly created by the Democrats’ last minute candidate switcheroo, there is very little time to lose.
Among his new hires is controversial 2016 campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski who preceded Conway. He is reportedly being brought in as a senior adviser to be above the two current co-campaign managers.
The New Republic noted that:
Lewandowski was viewed as a fierce defender of Trump’s unorthodox approach to campaigning, according to The New York Times. When Trump was urged to soften his message to appeal to moderates, Lewandowski adopted the motto “Let Trump Be Trump.”
[NOTE – Lewandowski even co-wrote a book about working on Trump’s campaign, titled ‘Let Trump Be Trump.’]
This nonstrategy stands in stark contrast to the current state of the race, in which Trump’s allies have begun urging him to stop making personal attacks against his opponent and stay on message. As such, Lewandowski’s hiring could signal Trump pushing back on his team’s attempts to get him to focus on policy rather than his typical grandstanding.
The Washington Post reported:
In addition to Lewandowski, the campaign is adding Tim Murtaugh, the communications director from Trump’s 2020 campaign, as well as three former officials from a pro-Trump super PAC: Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz and Taylor Budowich.
“As we head into the home stretch of this election, we are continuing to add to our impressive campaign team,” Trump’s co-campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, said in a statement Thursday. The five hires, they added, “are all veterans of prior Trump campaigns and their unmatched experience will help President Trump prosecute the case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical ticket in American history.”
Trump has been annoyed for weeks at the direction of his campaign, even though he makes many of the most important decisions. He has called allies asking if he should replace anyone, The Washington Post has reported.
Some 2016 alumni have voiced dissatisfaction with Wiles and LaCivita, suspecting them of controlling access to the former president and excluding or impugning longtime loyalists such as contributors to the Project 2025 policy blueprint. LaCivita has dismissed those detractors as a distraction.
When Trump rebooted his campaign team in 2016, he ended up not only showing he was serious about the race, but of course he won the White House.
Let’s hope this is part of a similar reboot. America needs Trump.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk.
