A small reunion is happening inside the Trump campaign.
Amid trailing polls and fundraising numbers, former President Donald Trump’s team has confirmed to multiple news outlets that it’s adding five new staffers, including a few campaign alumni.
The additions include Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former 2016 campaign manager who was let go from his role but remained close to the former president; Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s 2020 campaign communications director; and Taylor Budowich, a former senior aide who led the pro-Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc.
Two other new team members include former MAGA Inc. officials Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz.
The new roster comes at a critical moment for the Trump campaign.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris’ sudden placement on the top of the Democratic ticket, Trump has struggled to stay on message or land an effective line of attack that could slow the vice president’s momentum. Harris has so far broken fundraising numbers and managed to close the polling gap against Trump in crucial swing states.
Trump allies and supporters have expressed this concern as they plead with the former president to focus on the issues instead of lobbing meandering attacks against his Democratic opponent.
Trump himself has expressed frustrations about the sudden turn in the trajectory of his campaign, which for months appeared to be going in his favor before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
“It’s unfair that I beat him, and now I have to beat her, too,” Trump said of Biden and Harris in a phone call with an ally, according to The Washington Post.
In comes, then, the comfort of familiar and supportive faces.
Trump is clearly not happy with the state of the race, Evan Siegfried, a GOP strategist, told Business Insider, and this can often prompt the onboarding of those close to the candidate.
“Often, when in such a position with an angry candidate, campaigns bring on people close to the candidate in order to serve the purpose of keeping them happy and comfortable,” Siegfried said. “Trump and Lewandowski know one another well, same with the others brought aboard. It’s a sort of palliative care arrangement.”
Lewandowski has remained a staunch Trump ally despite being fired from the former president’s 2016 campaign shortly after the Republican primary and from his role at a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021.
His ouster in 2016 was followed by several controversies, including an allegation of manhandling a Breitbart reporter at a campaign event. The 2016 campaign denied the allegation, and prosecutors declined to pursue charges, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.
In 2021, a top Trump donor accused Lewandowski of making unwanted sexual advances toward her and touching her inappropriately at a Las Vegas charity dinner.
Lewandowski was initially charged with a misdemeanor for the 2021 incident before he cut a deal to drop the charge in exchange for completing an impulse-training course, community service, and paying a $1,000 fine, CNN reported.
Despite the controversies that have followed Lewandowski, Trump has maintained an open door to his orbit for his longtime ally.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita told Politico in a statement that the new hires “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.”
How the new additions will change the campaign’s strategy remains unclear. Lewandowski was given a “senior advisor” role, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Puck News’ Tara Palmeri also reported that Trump has been mulling over a potential comeback for Kellyanne Conway, who became the first woman to run a Republican Presidential campaign when she was appointed Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016.
Conway became a senior advisor during the Trump White House but left the administration in August 2020. Since then, she’s picked up a media gig with Fox News and, in August, filed to become a lobbyist to represent Ukrainian interests.
Her new lobbying work has caused some stir among Trump allies, who believe that Conway is leveraging her ties with the former president, an ex-Trump White House official told The New York Times.
Still, Trump and his two campaign managers appear to be open to the idea of bringing back Conway, a Trump advisor told Puck News.
“The president wants to bring her on, and some people are upset about it,” the advisor told Puck News. “I think Chris and Susie are resigned to the fact that there’s been a big shift — we’ve got a new candidate and a new VP — and we need to also shift. They’re both in the place where they’re okay with it.”
In a social media post on Thursday, Trump said he was enthusiastic to bring in bring familiar faces from previous campaigns.
“The enthusiasm is great, and the management team, headed up by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, is the best,” Mr. Trump wrote, variously writing in all capital letters. “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!”
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