Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski argued Tuesday that campaign chairman Paul Manafort should resign if he signed off on Melania Trump’s speech, which included similar language to Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention address.
Appearing on CNN, Lewandowski told hosts John Berman and Kate Bolduan that an apology from the campaign is not necessary, but someone should be held accountable for what took place — even if it is Manafort.
“Well, I can tell you that when I was the campaign manager, the buck stopped with me,” Lewandowski said. “So the buck stops somewhere at the top, and what I think is, at the end of the day, when you’re the convention manager, you’re in charge of the convention. And so there is no detail too small — particularly when you are looking at and scrutinizing scrutinizing the GOP nominee’s wife to give the largest speech in front of 35 million people, there is no detail that you should overlook.”
“I think someone at the staff level does,” Lewandowski said when asked if Manafort should be held responsible. “And I think Paul’s at the top of that and he should find out who’s ultimately responsible for putting that information in, and allowing that to go forward and holding that person responsible.”
After Lewandowski’s firing on June 20 from his post on the campaign, Manafort took over the reins of the operation and began building out the staff to reflect a general election campaign. Now a CNN political commentator, Lewandowski said that if the person responsible isn’t held accountable, the same mistake could be made again.
“You don’t need to apologize, you need accountability. That’s what a good leader does: holds people accountable,” Lewandowski argued. “I’ve been held accountable in this campaign. Other people should be held accountable in this campaign. You don’t need to apologize, but you need to fix it so it doesn’t happen again. Who’s to say that this same staff person isn’t involved tonight and doesn’t make the same the mistake again.”
“I think Paul needs to take a deep look inside and understand what the process was, make sure the protocols are in place. Make sure that there is a check and balance of every speech that’s going to go forward, and whoever signed off — was the final sign off that allowed this to go forward should be held accountable.”
“I think if it was Paul Manafort, he’d to the right thing and resign,” Lewandowski continued. “If he was the last person who saw this and saw this happen and brought this on the candidate’s wife, I think he would resign because I think that’s the type of person he would be.”
He also said that he wasn’t sure if Manafort reviewed the speech, adding that “it’s very possible” he did not.
