With 80 days to go before election day, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman has resigned.
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Manafort’s exit is the latest sign that Trump is likely change little from how he ran during the Republican primary.
Mr. Manafort was brought on in March to manage the campaign’s convention operations, and later took the reins after Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, was sacked in June. Manafort did work for pro-Russian forces in Ukraine before he joined the Trump campaign, and some pointed fingers at him as Trump seemed to adopt pro-Russian rhetoric.
His new team now faces the task of allowing him to be himself while making sure he stays on message – attacking his Democratic rival Hilary Clinton instead of sparking controversy with his own verbal missteps.
In a statement, Trump said Manafort offered his resignation Friday morning.
In recent days, Manafort has been the subject of several reports about the work he did for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party, in which he is accused of receiving more than $12 million in off-the-books cash payments – something he vehemently denies.
Manafort, 67, has been an outspoken part of Trump’s campaign, but in the past week, had his role shifted from campaign manager to campaign chairman with the promotion of veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager and Breitbart News’ Steve Bannon to campaign CEO.
“You can get rid of Manafort, but that doesn’t end the odd bromance Trump has with Putin”, Robbie Mook said.
Manafort worked to smooth over clashes between Trump and the Republican National Committee that had grown problematic under Trump’s first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.
He attempted to professionalize the Trump campaign, hiring more staff and working to persuade the candidate to adopt more of the practices of a traditional candidate.
All of this points to a “pivot” that will be temporary at best-given the combination of Trump’s fickleness and Bannon’s flare for conflict.
Manafort was hired by Trump in March as a convention manager, tasked with helping Trump secure the Republican nomination. He professionalized Trump’s delegate-wrangling operation and oversaw the GOP convention, considered a success by most observers.
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He faces Democrat Hillary Clinton, who has faced intense criticism over her email arrangements while secretary of state, in November’s election.
