Donald Trump Jr. dismissed reports on Monday that he and his siblings ousted their father’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, due to concerns about infighting and disagreements with his approach.
“We released Corey Lewandowski from the campaign, but we had a great relationship. Everything was amicable,” Trump’s eldest son told MSNBC. “I think it’s just a very natural process of transition from campaign to presumptive nominee to actual nominee.”
Trump Jr. declined to say whether Lewandowski was let go over a “fireable offense,” instead describing his departure as “the nature of moving on.”
“I think there are things that Corey was incredible at. He did things that were historic with my father,” he said, pointing to the record 13.3 million votes that Trump received in the Republican primary.
With Lewandowski gone, Trump Jr. said the campaign plans to “regroup and get everything set and come out of the convention running.” He noted that Lewandowski will remain as chairman of the New Hampshire delegation to the Republican national convention next month.
“We have had a great relationship with Corey … and I will be a delegate for New York at the convention and he will be leading the New Hampshire delegates,” he said.
The comments by Trump Jr. come hours after reports surfaced that he and his two siblings, Eric and Ivanka, had given their father an ultimatum: Fire Lewandowski or lose our help. The presumptive Republican nominee’s ex-campaign manager later said there was “absolutely no truth” to such reports.
“I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that,” Lewandowski told CNN’s Dana Bash when she asked him why he was let go during an interview Monday afternoon.
