Bill Stepien’s appointment to lead President Trump’s reelection campaign has stirred objections among allies of the president who view Stepien as an outsider and a figure of the establishment insufficiently wed to the America First doctrine.
“Of course, we would rather the ‘first-in’ alumni group get preferential treatment in the reelection,” said one Trump 2016 veteran, speaking about the recent appointment of later 2016 arrivals joining the campaign in senior roles. Operatives said they expect him to draw in more traditional GOP staffers.
More bluntly, radio host and advisory board member of Trump 2020 John Fredericks likened Stepien to the sort of Republican more inclined to the work for Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial this year. “Romney 2.0, or Christie 7.0,” Fredericks quipped in a Wednesday night message following Stepien’s appointment.
“Bill Stepien was the national field director on the 2016 Trump campaign and was responsible for turning out the Republican base to vote for President Trump,” said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh. “Over the last four years, he has maintained that contact both in the White House and on the 2020 campaign. Bill knows the Republican base and knows how to win elections.”
But in the eyes of some dyed-in-the-wool “Trumpers,” Stepien is viewed as a consummate insider. He managed both of Chris Christie’s campaigns for governor of New Jersey, was the national field director for Rudy Giuliani and then John McCain’s 2008 presidential bids, and the New Hampshire political director on President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.
And he is close to the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who they see as a negative influence on Trump’s America First policies, pushing such measures as criminal justice reform with the First Step Act or weakening Trump’s immigration efforts.
“Anyone calling Bill an establishment figure doesn’t know what they are talking about,” Corey Lewandowski, who managed Trump’s 2016 campaign during the primaries and serves as a senior adviser to the 2020 effort, told the Washington Examiner. “He’s a movement guy. There should be nobody questioning his commitment to this campaign or bonafides,” Lewandowski said, praising Stepien as “a phenomenal tactician.” He added: “Bill has my 100% support.”
Fredericks indicated he’d like to see more of allies like Lewandowski, who speak to the “deplorables” who elected Trump in 2016, playing a significant senior leadership role within the campaign.
“Corey understands how to reach the base, and he understands how Trump connects with people, probably better than anybody in America other than Steve Bannon,” Fredericks said. “Corey knows how to reach the ‘deplorables.’”
Fredericks also praised former deputy campaign manager David Bossie, who he said, “understands the management of this campaign. He’s got a track record.”
“Does he know the base better than some others? No, he doesn’t,” said one Trump World insider of Stepien. “If you are going to put him up against Corey Lewandowski — of course not. But they’ve got to get over it.”
The Trump tent is bigger now, this person said. “The president has transcended beyond the original base of 2016. The president trusts him. More importantly, the president picked him.”
By the time he was appointed Wednesday, replacing Brad Parscale as campaign manager, Stepien had spent over a month taking on increasing responsibilities, said a GOP consultant with ties to the administration.
This stepped up after Trump’s June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when the president spoke to a far smaller crowd than the campaign had advertised.
Sources told the Washington Examiner that Parscale’s ouster was initially expected around July 4, before it was delayed by the efforts of Trump family allies. “Don Jr. and Lara Trump like Brad,” said a GOP consultant with administration ties. “Jared wanted him out.”
With Stepien in charge, operatives hope to see measurable changes in how the campaign is run, spanning from ensuring hires are in the correct role to whether they have adequate resources to do their jobs.
“Stepien understands campaigning, so there are certain institutional things as far as campaigning will go that I think will step up, but the question is, will he lead the messaging or the nuts and bolts?” a GOP consultant said. “You need people like Bossie and some of these movement conservatives to really lead the messaging forward.”
Other operatives view messaging as the president’s domain and worry instead about getting out the vote.
“The bottom line is going to be whether or not the infrastructure that is in place can be bolstered and in time to do course corrections in the swing states,” one operative said.
“Campaigns are a numbers game, so getting out the vote is the bottom line.”
Joel Gehrke contributed to this report.
