Brad Parscale, the campaign manager for President Donald Trump.Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
President TrumpDoug Mills-Pool/Getty Images
Advertisement
WASHINGTON — Advisers to President Trump are pushing him to dismiss his campaign manager Brad Parscale, arguing he lacks the political instincts to lead the team to a second term in the White House.
With just five months until the election, Republican operatives, individuals close to the Trump family and advisers both inside and outside the White House believe Parscale is out of his depth for what will be a closely fought election against Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
All spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity.
“People within his inner circle continue to question Brad’s ability to bring the campaign down the home stretch because of his inexperience,” one longtime adviser to the president said.
“There’s no strategy, there’s no messaging,” the adviser noted.
One GOP insider familiar with the discussions confirmed multiple people with Trump’s ear have warned him that Parscale is not up to the job, which several sources described as the toughest role in Washington and akin to being “in the hot seat 24/7.”
The president doesn’t dismiss the suggestions outright and more staffing shakeups within the campaign are anticipated, multiple sources said.
Asked for comment, a senior campaign official sought to downplay the rumblings, telling The Post: “This same, tired story has been written 100 times, and it’s never true.”
“Brad has an excellent relationship with the president and the entire Trump family,” the official added.
In early 2018, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner tapped Parscale — a digital media director for the 2016 campaign — to become the manager of the 2020 re-election effort.
1 of 3
Senior White House adviser Jared KushnerSAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Parscale speaking with the president's daughter-in-law, Lara TrumpSamuel Corum/Getty Images
Advertisement
A marketing mastermind who became incredibly close to the Trump family, Parscale built a $500 million data operation and saw the campaign balloon to a staff of around 1,800, according to a source familiar with the effort.
But Republican campaign veterans fear that Trump 2020 has become a replica of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 operation — an enormous, process-driven outfit that is failing to establish what the president wants to achieve in his second term and what message he is running on.
“Jared put Brad in charge of the whole thing because he is loyal to the family — not because he is a political operator,” the GOP insider said. “Brad has zero experience running a national campaign.”
Supporters of Parscale point out that the 2020 presidential race has been rocked by two once-in-a-generation crises — the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide unrest over the death of George Floyd — noting that the re-election team is doing what it can amid the sudden cataclysms.
Others were also quick to highlight just how close Parscale is to Kushner, a powerful figure in the West Wing, and suggested a band of outside troublemakers were trying to weaken Parscale for their gain.
But sources said the president appears rudderless regarding the campaign in this pivotal moment and stories have emerged in recent weeks of Trump erupting at the pair and other top political advisers after he was presented with internal polling showing him falling behind Biden in key battleground states.
On Monday, Vanity Fair published a story that claimed Trump, furious about polling that indicated he may be facing a landslide loss in November, was considering putting other people in charge of his re-election bid.
Aides and advisers have complained about Parscale’s leadership for some time, with one insider describing him as a bad listener, while his lavish lifestyle irritates many in Trump’s orbit, including the president himself, multiple sources said.
“The money stuff rankles people in a major way,” said one campaign veteran, noting Parscale’s $2.4 million beachfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a new $400,000 boat, and a garage of luxury cars including a Ferrari.
A Huffington Post report published last month posited that the campaign chief’s companies have so far raked in $40 million from his work on Trump’s re-election committees.
Meanwhile, several people involved in the re-election effort described Parscale as being checked-out in recent months and suggested that staffers like Gary Coby, the campaign’s digital director, were shouldering more of the work.
Eyebrows were also raised after a campaign meeting at the Virginia headquarters on Thursday when Parscale headed for the airport and immediately got on a plane back to Florida, where he has been hunkered down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The president is frustrated that the message isn’t where it should be,” a former White House official said. “Of course, there is frustration around Brad.”
Recognizing the lack of political experience on the campaign, Kushner last month appointed former White House political director and Republican operative Bill Stepien to the role of deputy campaign manager to support Parscale.
Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff and Republican political consultant Nick Ayers was also at Thursday’s meeting and has been described as a “smart guy” who should be added to the team as it enters the home stretch.
1 of 3
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with President Trump at a rally in 2018.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Jason MillerDrew Angerer/Getty Images
Advertisement
And eager to recreate the magic of his 2016 win, Trump has started consulting more with his old team, including former top aides Corey Lewandowski, who has been seen increasingly in the West Wing, and David Bossie, who was spotted playing golf with the president twice last month.
Top George W. Bush aide Karl Rove was also at the White House last month while Jason Miller, a top communications adviser on the 2016 team, was added to the re-election campaign last week as a senior adviser.
Some Republican veterans, sensing blood in the water, have urged the president to establish a small cabinet of experienced advisers to meet on a weekly basis to discuss strategy.
Speaking to The Post last week before his new job was announced, Miller defended Parscale and said it was too easy for people to criticize him.
“When you’re in the middle of a global pandemic and riots and protests, it’s easy to point the finger and say, ‘Why aren’t these numbers looking better or going in a different direction?'” he said.
“Brad has done a good job with the campaign and for the campaign to still be in the ballgame and have a shot this fall despite these challenges is a testament to him and the team,” he continued.
Some insiders insist Parscale isn’t going anywhere thanks to his close ties to Kushner, but the GOP source was quick to caution that given the president’s staff turnover in the past, no one should feel safe.