Donald Trump, presumptive Republican nominee, has fired Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager, in the face of sagging poll numbers and increased pressure from his party.
The development is the campaign’s most significant staff change to date, and signals an acknowledgment from Trump that an overhaul is necessary ahead of the general election.
Trump has suffered major setbacks since becoming the GOP’s presumptive nominee last month, coming under intense criticism from party leaders, major donors and rank-and-file Republicans for an array of issues — including most recently, his response to last weekend’s killings in Orlando.
A series of recent surveys showed presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton polling ahead of Trump by as many as 10 points.
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“The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican Primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement on Monday.
“The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future.”
“The decision to fire Lewandowski was made swiftly in a Monday morning weekly meeting with Trump’s family members.”
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CNN said Ivanka Trump, the candidate’s daughter, played a pivotal role in convincing Trump to take action against Lewandowski.
The agency said she had been critical of Lewandowski for months and this was not the first time that she had leaned on her father to part ways with his top aide.
Contributing to Ivanka Trump’s recent dissatisfaction with Lewandowski were intensifying tensions between Lewandowski and Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, an influential force behind the scenes.
CNN also quoted a source as saying rumors swirled that Lewandowski had attempted to plant negative stories in the press about Kushner — a final straw for Ivanka Trump.
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Ivanka sat down with her father on Sunday and convinced him to let Lewandowski go — even offering an ultimatum of sorts about her own continued involvement with the campaign, according to sources with knowledge of this conversation.
The development suggests that Kushner — who is already involved in building a transition team for Donald Trump should he win the White House in November — could play an increasingly prominent role in guiding the Trump campaign.
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