Republican insiders are siding with Brad Parscale after reports surfaced that President Trump blames his campaign manager for declining support ahead of the November contest versus Joe Biden, quietly hoping the incumbent makes no sudden moves to overhaul his reelection operation.
Trump has denied that any friction exists with Parscale, tweeting an endorsement of his longtime adviser. Parscale also downplayed the report, which stated that the president yelled at him during a meeting about the campaign and held him responsible for Biden’s lead in national and battleground state polls.
Republican strategists and lawmakers, impressed with the Trump campaign machinery, are hopeful that the ties between Trump and Parscale have not frayed.
“The campaign is doing the right things technically and is adroit,” a veteran Republican strategist told the Washington Examiner. “The problem is above the manager’s pay grade.”
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, leads Trump by more than 5 percentage points nationally in the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls. The former vice president also holds an edge in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump was expected to face a competitive reelection challenge from the outset of the 2020 contest. But his vulnerability appears more acute amid a coronavirus pandemic that has crashed the economy and thrown more than 30 million people out of work.
Republican insiders, generally supportive of Trump, were hesitant to comment for this story, fearing the president’s wrath and not wanting to cause blowback for Parscale. That was especially the case for GOP strategists who credit the president’s current troubles to his habit of using daily coronavirus briefings from the White House to squabble with reporters and criticize governors rather than focusing on reassuring the public.
“I don’t think anyone attributes any of the ‘problems’ with the president or his decline in the polls to problems with the campaign operation,” a GOP consultant said in an email.
Immediately following midterm elections that saw Republicans lose the House majority, some GOP insiders were critical of the Trump campaign.
But those concerns were quickly assuaged last year as the campaign, in conjunction with the Republican National Committee, deployed an extensive ground game and advanced digital program. The campaign, Republicans crowed, was not simply good compared to the president’s tumultuous 2016 effort; it was possibly the best the party had ever fielded and finally on par with, if not better than, anything the Democratic Party had to offer.
Some Republican operatives, while careful not to criticize Trump, commended Parsacle for this development.
“Brad Parscale continues to get high marks and is showing that he’s especially adept at navigating uncharted waters and leading further into the digital world,” said Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist in Pennsylvania.
“Parscale has made himself available to party leaders — that’s smart and engages folks,” added Saul Anuzis, a former RNC member from Michigan. “I haven’t heard any complaints from the consulting class either.”
Parscale’s association with the president began prior to the 2016 campaign as a vendor for the Trump Organization, designing websites and other digital products. Then based in Texas, Parscale was brought on to the first Trump campaign to run digital operations. After Trump won the presidency, Parscale emerged as among his most trusted advisers, with a hand in all aspects of his political operation. With that influence and public profile has come criticism.
Some Republicans are unhappy with the millions Parscale has earned from his involvement with Trump’s campaign and related GOP entities. These critics argue that Parscale’s primary skill set has nothing to do with political know-how but rather that Trump and his most trusted White House confidant, son-in-law Jared Kushner, trust him. The Trump campaign is top-flight, some Republicans say, because of Parscale’s deputies who run the field and digital departments.
Yet given how impatient and demanding Trump can be with personnel, some Republicans say Parscale’s relationship with both the president and Kushner should not be undervalued.
“Being able to keep Jared and Trump happy while still making the trains run on time is not a small task,” a Republican ad writer said.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request to comment for this story.
