This story has been updated to include a comment from the Trump campaign. See below.
Ivanka Trump may be the reason behind the very public firing of her father’s campaign manager.
On Monday morning, Donald Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks made the following statement: “The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican Primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign.”
Hicks provided no reason for Lewandowski’s exit, but both the New York Times and the Washington Post report that the presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign manager was fired.
Over the course of the morning, a number of Washington insiders tweeted that it was Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, that was responsible for Lewandowski being pushed out.
Dana Bash, a senior correspondent for CNN, said that Ivanka Trump gave her father an ultimatum, making him choose between her and his campaign chief. Meanwhile, Ben Jacobs, a political reporter for The Guardian, tweeted that the reason for the sudden departure was Lewandowski’s attempt to “sideline” Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner.
I'm told the person who convinced Trump to fire Corey is Ivanka – who met with her dad and said get rid of him or she can no longer help
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) June 20, 2016
Hearing that Lewandowski had trying to plant negative stories about Jared Kushner in recent weeks in attempt to sideline Trump's son-in-law
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 20, 2016
Subscribe to the Broadsheet, Coins2Day’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.
While recent developments may have finally gotten Trump to the point of saying “You’re fired!,” the New York Times reports that Lewandowski had fraught relationships with members of the national press corps, officials at the Republican National Committee, and top campaign staffers, chief strategist Paul Manafort. The Guardian reports that his relationship with Hicks was strained as well.
In an email to Coins2Day, Hicks said that there is “n o truth to either suggestion,” referring to the rumors of Ivanka Trump’s involvement in the exit and her own reported conflict with the campaign manager.
Lewandowski made headlines earlier this year when he was arrested and charged with simple battery after having allegedly grabbed and bruised the arm of Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. The case has since been dropped.
NBC’s Katy Tur reports that Manafort will be taking over as campaign manager and that Hicks is staying with the campaign.
Sources tell me Paul Manafort is now the campaign manager. Hope Hicks will stay on, but more Comms staff will be added.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) June 20, 2016
