If there were any doubts Paul Manafort is running Donald Trump’s campaign, the latest hire should put them to rest. Politico first reported Monday evening the Trump campaign has hired Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, a veteran of several successful campaigns including Florida governor Rick Scott’s run in 2010 and Kentucky governor Matt Bevin’s in 2015.
Fabrizio and Manafort have been associated for two decades going back to Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential bid. Then as now, Manafort was the Republican nominee’s convention manager, while Fabrizio was the lead pollster for Dole. Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Manafort who resigned from the Trump campaign last year but remains influential, gave his old friend credit for the Fabrizio hire on Twitter:
