Nearly 50 days before the 2024 presidential election, there are signs that President Trump campaign is at a standstill and even at war with itself.
Multiple sources familiar with the campaign’s structure are now questioning whether it ran the 2024 presidential election together – that campaign managers Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita should keep their jobs.
Dismay over the direction of the campaign has apparently been building for some time.
.com said it was President Trump’s “disastrous” performance in Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News and his decision to allow the notorious 9/11 conspiracy theorist to appoint a former co-president of the White House. The 11/11 anniversary was the final straw.
Indeed, Trump found himself in a pinch on Friday when he held a news conference at his Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.
The former president was asked Wednesday why Laura Loomer, who once claimed 9/11 was an “inside job,” was by his side.
“Laura is an advocate… she has very strong opinions… she’s a free spirit,” Trump told reporters.
When asked why he was on hand when Laura boarded a campaign plane on September 11 to speak to firefighters at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the terrorists crashed, he said, “I can’t tell Laura what to do.” Forty people aboard the plane died.
“I don’t know what she said,” Trump said. “We’re going to investigate and we’re going to make a statement.”
The statement doesn’t absolve the Trump campaign of all responsibility. “She had 100 percent control over the [ABC News] debate preparations and the passenger manifest for President Trump’s plane,” campaign co-manager Susie Wiles reported. “She has a firm grip on this campaign and has the final say on all decisions… They’re going to eat a load of this shit.
The Trump campaign would not comment on why Loomer. She was allowed on the plane with the president, but campaign officials kept their distance from her.
“She is not a campaign staffer. She is not with the campaign. She was on this trip but is in no way with the campaign in an official capacity,
Meanwhile, prominent Trump allies have expressed their anger at Loomer’s relationship with Trump in public.
A number of Republicans, from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Sen. Lindsey Graham, have condemned Loomer. Taylor Greene called her previous comments “appalling and extremely racist.”
The person, who has inside knowledge of how the campaign works, blamed Wiles.
Last year, Trump asked his team to put Loomer on the campaign payroll, but Wiles reportedly refused. A 2024 campaign source told NBC News in April 2023 that she was keeping the “crazy people” away.
However, sources claim that “Wiles was not trying to create a furor by not bringing Laura Loomer on board, almost 50 days before the end of the campaign.”
who is on leave from Mercury, a major nonpartisan PR firm, may have other motives than winning the November election.
Mercury is a lobbying firm whose clients include Chinese technology company Alibaba and major American oil companies, but Wiles is not a registered lobbyist for the firm. Campaign managers typically have experience in the public relations industry.
“Wiles just wants to hold out until the election is over because she has the potential to land lucrative contracts,” the source said. “Whether Trump wins or loses, this is good for their business.”
A Trump campaign official said they are “100 percent focused on making sure President Trump wins.”
In addition, the source said that Wiles and co-manager Chris LaCivita also ignored Trump’s instructions.
“Trump asked them to do something, but when they got on stage nothing was done. Wiles and Chris LaCivita just do what they want,” the source said.
“All the weasels and cowards who hide behind anonymity and spread lies about President Trump and his campaign might be better off declaring their allegiance to Kamala Harris and the policies of the radical left, because Republicans are winning, and they’re doing nothing to make that happen,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Chang said.
“President Trump is running the most professional campaign in history, and Susie and Chris are doing a phenomenal job,” said the president, who has been a key figure in the debate since 2013.
Meanwhile, excitement over the president’s performance in Tuesday’s debate has not died down.
President Trump and his campaign aides have publicly maintained that his performance, which was panned by many observers and even by prominent allies like Senator Graham, was strong.
But those familiar with the debate preparations paint a much bleaker picture of voters’ perception of the debate.
And again, they blame Wiles.
“Wiles was in control of who was in the room to prepare Trump.” “It was the same old guys,” the source said. “We weren’t involved. We had no idea what was going to happen.
Two Trump campaign officials denied responsibility.
“The Trump campaign firmly believes President Trump won the debate “The same people who worked with President Trump on the first debate (against President Joe Biden) worked with him on the second debate.”
“Susie and Chris report directly to the head of the organization. That’s teamwork.
poll conducted immediately after the debate showed 49% of debate viewers thought Harris had won, while 45% said Trump was ahead by the evening.
The first full poll released Wednesday after Tuesday’s showdown gave Harris a five-point lead, slightly expanding the three-point lead she previously held in this poll.
Trump campaig that the president’s team is on track to win in November and argued that his opponents are pursuing a destructive agenda.
“When someone attacks the most successful campaign organization ever built to support President Trump, it raises the big question of who wants to win in the fall,” the source said. “We know when we smell someone trying to cause trouble.”
In front of the cameras, President Trump has firmly endorsed his team, telling reporters in August: “And Chris is great.” “
But if President Trump does indeed decide to undermine his campaign’s leadership in the final days of a campaign, it wouldn’t be the first time.
In June 2016, Trump separated from his campaign chairman, Corey Lewandowski. On July 15, 2020, President Trump fired his campaign chairman, Brad Parscale.
Yet, seven weeks before the election, President Trump has shown no willingness to change.
