Campaign chairman Paul Manafort resigned from Donald Trump’s team Friday, less than a week after the candidate reshuffled his staff and amid news reports about Manafort’s past political activity for pro-Russian elements in Ukraine.
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Trump said he accepted Manafort’s resignation, which he offered Friday morning. The candidate said he is “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”. “I am not sure Donald Trump would be as successful had it not been for Manafort”.
On Wednesday, he appeared to sideline Manafort further in appointing a right-wing news executive, Stephen Bannon, as campaign chief executive and promoting veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.
Manafort was hired by Trump in March.
Manafort is also stepping down amid growing allegations related to his work on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Manafort said he’s “never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment”‘ and that all money directed to him was for work carried out in Ukraine by his political team, according to a statement reported by NBC News on Monday.
Trump’s campaign has struggled in recent weeks as Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton has widened her lead across the nation to an average of about nine points in polls.
Manafort has denied any wrongdoing.
In a similar shake-up in June, Manafort took over the running of the campaign after Trump fired Corey Lewandowski as campaign manager.
Gates will remain with Trump’s presidential campaign, taking over as the campaign’s liaison to the Republican National Committee.
Lewandowski said he just thought the tweet was “funny” before he went back to applauding the Trump campaign’s new move.
Trump also made a second direct pitch to African American voters this week, saying they had been betrayed by the Democrats in a speech well received by his audience at his Thursday rally in North Carolina. “I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain”.
A Trump source said Manafort told Trump he was becoming a distraction and he wanted to end that.
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Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and research coordinator at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said Trump still had some time to turn around his campaign, noting the news came as many Americans were enjoying summer vacations.
