- Lewandowski called it an “addition campaign,” not a “subtraction campaign”
- He said Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita would continue to run the operation
Donald Trump senior adviser Corey Lewandowski went on air Friday to reveal what will and won’t change now that he’s been brought on board the campaign.
Lewandowski, who led 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 the election, but the truth is people are starting to vote much earlier,” Lewandowski told Martha McCallum on Fox News.
“We’ve only got 45 days left before the ballots go out, so all hands on deck,” he said, referring to mail-in voting, which Trump has often criticized in favor of in-person voting. “There’s a place for everyone who wants to be part of the team,” he said.
McCallum introduced him as a “senior adviser” and then asked for clarification. “Something like that, I guess. I don’t know if titles matter — the only title that matters is the president’s,” he replied. (Trump said Thursday he would be a “personal envoy.”)
“The president has decided to continue to bring in members of his team who want to ensure that he is successful,” he said.
Corey Lewandowski, senior adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign, spoke about the role he will play now that he has joined the operation. When asked about his title, he joked that it was “something like that, I guess.”
“It’s an addition campaign, not a subtraction campaign,” he said.
He praised campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, as well as Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio.
“I am honored and humbled that the president has asked me to come back and lead this campaign to a successful Election Day in early November,” he said.
McCallum cited the dramatic musical chairs of 2016, when Paul Manafort was brought in as top strategist and Kellyanne Conway was ultimately put in charge of the case that brought Trump across the finish line. She wanted to know if a similar change would happen at the top.
Former President Donald Trump is bringing in veterans from his previous campaigns as he confronts Vice President Kamala Harris’s polling gains since Joe Biden dropped out
“I believe that’s true, Martha. Absolutely,” he replied, calling Wiles and LaCivita, who guided Trump through a string of primary victories, “consummate professionals” who “have steered a very impressive ship.”
“The Democrats are so worried about Donald Trump that they had to change their nominee at this late stage, right before the convention,” he said.
McCallum also asked him about the claim that Trump is angry, saying he was “a little rattled.” “People have said he’s been a little rambling in some of his recent speeches.”
“He’s not in shape,” Lewandowski said, referring to his lengthy press conference on Thursday and the fact that Harris did not speak to him.
“She’s a chameleon. She keeps using this tactic of hiding in the basement and not answering questions from the media,” he said.
Trump confirmed the appointments on Thursday after polls showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading or tying in key polls.
Taylor Budowich, who led the super PAC MAGA, Inc., and Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz of the PAC are also on board. Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s communications director in 2020, is also on board.
McCallum cited polls showing Trump trailing among women in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Lewandowski dismissed the concerns, pointing to female campaign surrogates. “We saw this in 2016 when women were going to support Hillary Clinton. She actually lost the right to vote in 2016, and Kamala Harris is going to repeat that in 2024,” he said.
He was also asked if he was tasked with looking at Trump’s operation’s finances. “The president has not asked me to do that,” he said, calling the campaign a “lean operation.”