- Lewandowski called it a “campaign of addition”, not “subtraction”
- He said Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita would continue to run the operation.
Donald Trump’s adviser Corey Lewandowski went on air Friday to reveal what is and isn’t changing now that he’s joined the campaign.
Lewandowski, who ran Trump’s 2016 campaign and was fired weeks before the Republican convention, praised Trump’s current leadership team and said he had no plans to review the operation’s books.
“We’re 80 days away from this election and the truth is that people are starting to vote much earlier,” Lewandowski told Martha McCallum on Fox News.
“It’s actually just 45 days until ballots start going out, so we all need to get to work,” he said, referring to mail-in ballots that Trump has often criticized in favor of in-person voting. “Anybody who wants to be part of the team, there’s a place for them,” he said.
McCallum introduced him as a “senior adviser” and then asked for clarification. “I guess something like that. I don’t know if titles matter; the only title that matters is president,” he replied. (Trump said Thursday that he would be a “personal envoy.”)
“The president has made a decision to continue to add members to his team who want to ensure that he will be successful,” he said.
Donald Trump’s senior campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski has spoken out about the role he’ll play now that he’s joined the operation. When asked about his title, he joked that it was “something like that, I guess.”
“It’s a campaign of addition, not subtraction,” he said.
He praised campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, as well as Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio.
“I am honored and grateful that the President has asked me to return to lead this campaign to a successful Election Day in early November,” he said.
McCallum mentioned the dramatic game of musical chairs in 2016, when Paul Manafort was named chief strategist and Kellyanne Conway ended up steering the path that got Trump to the finish line. He wanted to know if there would be a similar shift at the top.
Former President Donald Trump is bringing in veterans from his previous campaigns as he faces poll gains from Vice President Kamala Harris since Joe Biden dropped out
“I think that’s true, Martha. I totally believe that,” he replied, calling Wiles and LaCivita, who guided Trump through a series of primary victories, “consummate professionals” who have “steered an impressive ship.”
“Democrats are so worried about Donald Trump that they had to change their candidate at this late stage, just before the convention,” he said.
McCallum also asked him about the claim that Trump is angry, and he said he was “a little off base,” adding that “people have said he’s been rambling in some of his recent speeches.”
“He’s not out of his depth,” Lewandowski said, pointing to his lengthy news conference on Thursday and the lack of an interview with Harris.
“He’s been a chameleon. He keeps employing this tactic of hiding in the basement and not answering questions from the media,” he said.
Trump confirmed the hires Thursday as polls show Vice President Kamala Harris leading or tying in swing-party polls.
Also joining are Taylor Budowich, who ran the super PAC MAGA, Inc., as well as Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz of the PAC. Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s communications chief in 2020, will also join.
McCallum cited polls showing Trump is behind among women in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Lewandowski dismissed the concerns and pointed to women supporting the campaign. “We saw this in 2016, when women were supposed to support Hillary Clinton. In reality, she lost the female vote in 2016 and Kamala Harris is going to repeat that in 2024,” she said.
He was also asked if he had been tasked with overseeing the finances of Trump’s operation. “The president has not asked me to do it,” he said, calling the campaign a “lean operation.”
