Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is bringing back his 2016 campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, as a senior adviser to beef up his 2024 campaign staff for the final push to November.
Trump posted on Truth Social, “We’re leading in almost all Polls, in some cases leading by A LOT, despite the fact that the Fake News is pulling out all stops for their Radical Left San Francisco Liberal, Kamala Harris. In 2016, we did well, and WON.”
“In 2020, we got Millions of more Votes and actually did much better than 2016, but nothing compares to this year, 2024. The Enthusiasm is GREAT, and the Management Team, headed up by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, is THE BEST,” he added.
Wiles and LaCivita are Trump’s current co-campaign managers.
“Many people want to join the Campaign for the final push, some from the first two Campaigns – And we want as many as we can get! I am pleased to announce that Corey Lewandowski, who was very involved in 2016, will be coming on board as a Senior Advisor. Others, likewise, are joining us,” Trump said.
Trump announces that Corey Lewandowski and “others” from his 2016 and 2020 campaigns are joining his 2024 campaign for the final stretch pic.twitter.com/d0NgXdKVn0
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) August 15, 2024
Politico reported, “Those close to the campaign say the new hires are not a shakeup, but rather a buttressing of the campaign’s leadership roster in the crucial last few months leading up to the election.”
In mid-August 2016, Trump reworked his top campaign staff naming Kellyanne Conway campaign manager and Steve Bannon campaign CEO.
Is this a good move for Trump?
Others who will be joining the 2024 campaign include Tim Murtaugh, who was communications director on Trump’s 2020 campaign, as well as Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz and Taylor Budowich, who were all working for the the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc, according to Politico.
“As we head into the home stretch of this election, we are continuing to add to our impressive campaign team, Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz, and Tim Murtaugh 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,” Wiles and LaCivita said in a statement to the news outlet.
The Associated Press reported that LaCivita was one of the top Republican architects behind the “swift boat” campaign in 2004 directed at then-Democratic nominee John Kerry in his race against incumbent President George W. Bush.
And LaCivita sees Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as guilty of telling similar falsehoods about his service.
“Two things you don’t do is lie about the medals you received and whether or not you saw combat. Those are the two big sins. And [Walz] is guilty of at least one of them,” LaCivita told the AP last week.
Ads that LaCivita helped put together for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 accused Kerry, who served as a Naval officer in the Vietnam War, “of lying to win combat decorations, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart,” according to CNN.
“Most damaging of all, Kerry’s Vietnam service had become controversial, rather than reassuring, and it was largely dropped from the remainder of his campaign,” Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History chronicled.
Regarding Trump’s Lewandowski hire, Politico noted he had been removed from a top post at a Trump super PAC in 2021 after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a top donor’s wife at a Las Vegas charity dinner.
He was charged with a misdemeanor, which prosecutors later dropped, after Lewandowski agreed to undergo impulse control counseling, do community service and pay a fine.
During the current campaign cycle, Lewandowski played a role in organizing the Republican National Convention last month and has been a consultant to the Republican National Committee.
