While Donald Trump may have fired campaign manager Corey Lewandowski last month–reportedly at the behest of his children–Lewandowski is still giving advice to his former boss, even though he now has a new gig as a pundit on CNN.
“New York” magazine reports that despite Lewandowski’s ouster from the campaign’s inner circle, he still has Trump’s ear. And that could cause major problems as the GOP convention starts this evening in Cleveland. Trump adviser Roger Stone had this to say about Lewandowski:
“He’ll be trying to undermine the campaign leadership by giving Trump bad advice.”
Once example of that bad advice: Lewandowski reportedly pushed hard for Trump to choose Chris Christie as his running mate instead of Mike Pence.
Sources inside the Trump camp also say that Lewandowski urged Trump not to apologize for what was seen as an anti-Semitic tweet that included a photo of Hillary Clinton, a pile of money and a Star of David. The source noted that in his opinion Lewandowski, who will be at the convention as part of the CNN team:
“Will be working the convention rivalries into a froth.”
Lewandowski may also attempt to challenge the power of current campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has urged Trump to take a less controversial and more Presidential tone. But can anyone truly control Trump?
A sure sign of which side has sway will come when Trump gives his acceptance speech on Thursday evening. Will he speak from a script and use a Teleprompter, or will he merely appear with a few notes and give an extemporaneous address, his usual routine? If so, he could scare away even those who are leaning toward voting for him. Such a move might also give plenty of ammunition to the Democrats, who hold their convention next week in Philadelphia.
And in the shadows, Corey Lewandowski will be savoring every minute of the proceedings he no doubt feels are his handiwork.
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