Two former Trump campaign advisers in New Hampshire join presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy’s team as the ex-president continues to lose aides in 2016 and 2020 in his third bid for the White House.
The move comes after former President Donald Trump was charged earlier this week following his indictment last week in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
It also follows a slew of other former aides and advisers joining other Republican primary candidates for 2024 — including those who haven’t even announced it yet.
Fred Doucette, former New Hampshire state chairman for both Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, is coming to Ramaswamy’s campaign just before the presidential hopeful embarks on a 10-county tour of the Granite State next week.
Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has nabbed two former Trump aides — including his top adviser in New Hampshire — to join his 2024 bid for the White House
Fred Doucette (right) joins Ramaswamy’s campaign after serving as New Hampshire State Speaker in 2016 and 2020
Ramaswamy’s campaign also announced Thursday that Josh Whitehouse, who was the first New Hampshire elected official to support Trump in 2016 and worked in his administration, will serve as the campaign’s state director.
“We are taking America First to the next level, with key players in New Hampshire making it happen in 2016,” Ramaswamy said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
He added: “In 2024 we will go further than ever.”
The biotech multimillionaire isn’t the first to instead catch the eye of a former Trump campaign aide.
Several of Trump’s former inner circle have already aligned themselves with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce a bid but is so far widely seen as the only one who can give the ex-president a run for his money in the GOP primaries. .
A former top communications aide from Trump’s previous campaign is leaving the ex-president to join a pro-DeSantis Super PAC launched earlier this year by Ken Cuccinelli, another Trump administration aide.
Trump’s former deputy campaign communications director, Matt Wolking, serves as the strategic communications director of the Never Back Down political action committee.
Cuccinelli, once a top official in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, gave up allegiance to his former boss to launch the Super PAC to get DeSantis in office in 2024 and earn the GOP nomination for president.
The move comes after Trump was indicted last week and charged Tuesday in Manhattan in the Stormy Daniels hush money case — and as several former aides continue to distance themselves from the former president
In addition, of the nine former Trump campaign officials who spoke to CNN last month, only three said they publicly intend to support the former president’s third consecutive bid for the White House.
At one time, Trump’s most trusted campaign manager, Corey Lewsandowski, was reportedly privately pitching potential Republican candidates to run against the former president in the primary — including DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Lewandowski, who lives in New Hampshire, was not with Trump during his visit to the Granite State in January. Trump’s former aide, however, insists he “has not sought other GOP candidates for president.”
Doucette worked as state chairman to garner support for Trump in New Hampshire’s first primary state in 2016 and 20202 — and will now do the same for Ramaswamy as senior strategist.
“Fred gets things done,” Ramaswamy said in a statement about the appointment. “He has a proven track record of leadership, getting results and winning.”
We are taking America First to the next level and I am confident that Fred will be an important asset in our mission in the political melting pot of New Hampshire. We are ready to roll out and revive the American experiment, starting with the Granite state.”
Ramaswsamy will be touring New Hampshire next week starting April 13.
The New Hampshire tour includes stops in Concord, Manchester, Henniker, Wolfeboro, North Conway, Berlin, Littleton, Dover, Brentwood, Nashua, Seabrook, and Portsmouth.