“This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign”, Trump said in a statement. “I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process”.
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“Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success”, Trump continued.
His newly appointed campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, did not provide any more context about his apology during an appearance on Good Morning America Friday morning.
Manafort also drew particular scrutiny after the GOP platform, approved last month, eliminated a call to arm Ukraine in its fight with Russian Federation, which seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and has supported separatists in eastern Ukraine. But, Trump added, “I think it’s time now for a different kind of campaign”.
In April, shortly after joining Trump, The New York Times obtained a leaked recording of Manafort telling Republican National Committee (RNC) members, “That’s what’s important for you to understand: That he [Trump] gets it, and that the part he’s been playing is evolving”. Yet his role grew to serve as Trump’s connection to the GOP establishment, telling Republican elders that their presidential nominee would run a traditional campaign that would not imperil down-ballot candidates.
After warring behind the scenes for months with Lewandowski, who had little regard for Manafort, Lewandoswki was sacked earlier this summer. What Manafort was promising was a campaign turnaround.
The billionaire businessman also said Democrats had let down black voters and vowed “If African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote”, he said, “the result for them will be awesome”.
Lewandowski, meanwhile, became a contributor at CNN, where he never seemed to miss an opportunity to nick Manafort – including the discovery that Melania Trump’s RNC opening night keynote speech included portions plagiarized from a Michelle Obama speech.
Manafort has at least one strong New Jersey tie.
Trump’s provided Hillary Clinton’s campaign with a bevy of footage to use in attack ads against him. The investigation is looking at the work of Manafort’s firm and another lobbying firm, the Podesta Group, headed by Tony Podesta, whose brother, John Podesta, is chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Manafort resigned in wake of campaign shakeup and revelations about Ukraine work. “You know, Paul was fantastic. But again, my father just didn’t want to have the distraction looming over the campaign and quite frankly looming over all the issues that Hillary’s facing right now”.
Lewandowski said Friday that he had nothing to do with the change, but said it marked a much-needed course correction before Labor Day.
FILE- In this August 8, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with his running mate, Republican vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as he arrives to give an economic policy speech to the Detroit Economic Club in Detroit.
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Trump’s hiring of Bannon was seen as a sign he would not hold back in his aggressive, unorthodox campaign manner.
