A small reunion is happening within the Trump camp.
Amid sluggish polling and fundraising numbers, former President Donald Trump’s campaign confirmed to multiple media outlets that it is adding five new staffers, including several with campaign experience.
The new members include Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman who was fired from his position but maintained a close relationship with the former president; Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s 2020 campaign communications director; and Taylor Budowicz, a former senior aide to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc.
The other two new team members include former MAGA Inc. executives Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz.
The new roster was announced at a critical time for the Trump campaign.
Trump has struggled to stay on message or mount effective attacks to slow Vice President Kamala Harris since she suddenly rose to the top of the Democratic field, even as Ms. Harris has so far managed to outdo Ms. Trump in fundraising numbers and close the polling gap with Trump in key battleground states.
Trump’s allies and supporters have voiced those concerns, imploring the former president to focus on the issues rather than hurling rambling attacks at his Democratic opponents.
Trump’s campaign appeared to be edging ahead for months before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, but even Trump himself has expressed frustration at the sudden change in his campaign’s trajectory.
“It’s not fair that I beat him and now I have to beat her,” Trump said of Biden and Harris during a call with allies, according to The Washington Post.
Then a familiar, supportive face appears and your heart takes comfort.
Republican strategist Evan Siegfried told Business Insider that Trump is clearly not happy with the status quo in the race, which often translates to garnering support from people close to the candidate.
“In situations where you have an angry candidate, campaigns often bring in someone close to the candidate to keep the candidate happy and reassured,” Siegfried said. “Trump and Lewandowski know each other very well, as do other people who are brought into the campaign. It’s a kind of palliative care arrangement.”
Lewandowski remains a staunch supporter of Trump despite being fired from former President Trump’s 2016 campaign shortly after the Republican primary and from his role in a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021.
His 2016 firing was followed by several controversies, including allegations that he had been rough with a Breitbart reporter at a campaign event. His 2016 campaign denied the allegations and prosecutors dropped the charges, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.
In 2021, a major Trump donor accused Lewandowski of soliciting unwanted sexual favours from him and inappropriately touching him at a charity dinner in Las Vegas.
Lewandowski was initially charged with misdemeanor assault for the 2021 incident, but made a deal to have the charges dropped in exchange for taking an impulse control training course, performing community service and paying a $1,000 fine, CNN reported.
Despite the controversy surrounding Lewandowski, President Trump has left the door open to his longtime ally in his sphere of influence.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump campaign co-managers Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement to Politico that the new hires are “all former Trump campaign veterans, and their unparalleled experience will help President Trump pursue his case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical candidates in American history.”
It’s unclear how the new additions will affect Trump’s campaign strategy. In a post on TruthSocial, Trump wrote that Lewandowski had been given the role of “senior advisor.”
PAC News reporter Tara Palmeri also reported that Trump is considering bringing back Kellyanne Conway, who was appointed Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016 and became the first woman to lead a Republican presidential campaign.
Conway served as a senior adviser under Trump’s administration but left the administration in August 2020. Since then, she has taken a media job at Fox News and in August applied to become a lobbyist representing Ukrainian interests.
Conway’s new lobbying efforts are causing a stir among Trump supporters, who believe she is taking advantage of her ties to the former president, a former Trump administration official told The New York Times.
Still, Trump and his two campaign managers appear open to the idea of bringing Conway back, a Trump adviser told Pac News.
“The president wants to have her in the position, and some people are upset about that,” the adviser told Pac News. “I think Chris and Suzie have accepted the fact that there’s been big changes. There’s a new nominee and a new vice president. We need to change. They both accept that.”
In a social media post on Thursday, Trump said he was keen to use familiar faces from his previous campaigns.
“The enthusiasm is amazing and your operations team led by Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita is the best,” Trump wrote in capital letters, adding: “Lots of you want to join the campaign for the final stretch, some of you were in the first two campaigns. We want as many of you as possible to get involved!”
