Donald Trump sacks manager as campaign troubled

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump with his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski(left) addressing the media following victory in the Florida state primary in West Palm Beach, Floridaon March 15, 2016. Mr Trump let go his controversial campaign manager Mr Lewandowski on June 20, 2016. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Trump has taken a hit in the national polls of late and sparked outrage with comments about Muslims in the wake of the Orlando gay club massacre.

  • With less than a month to go before the Republican convention, changes were inevitable.

  • Mr Trump says he plans on announcing his pick for vice president at the Republican convention in Cleveland next month.

WASHINGTON, Tuesday

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump dumped his controversial campaign manager on Tuesday, as he looked to revitalize a White House bid after recent stumbles ahead of a November showdown with Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump, 70, has taken a hit in the national polls of late and sparked outrage with comments about Muslims in the wake of the Orlando gay club massacre.

With less than a month to go before the Republican convention, changes were inevitable.

After weeks of rumours about dissent within his camp over how best to take on Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, the hammer came down when campaign manager Corey Lewandowski left Team Trump.

“I think Corey is terrific,” Trump told Fox News.

“I think it’s time now for a different kind of a campaign. We ran a small, beautiful, well-unified campaign... I have 73 people. Hillary Clinton has almost 900 people and we’re in the same position.”

Mr Trump said he planned on announcing his pick for vice president at the Republican convention in Cleveland next month.

His team did not specify the terms of Lewandowski’s departure.

Lewandowski was credited with Trump’s initial breakthrough in the primaries, but he has recently been sidelined, with more experienced political operatives like Paul Manafort, who will now lead the campaign, being given more influence.

Lewandowski courted controversy earlier this year over a March run-in with a reporter at a Trump rally. She accused him of roughly grabbing her, leaving bruises, but he denied that account. Florida prosecutors opted to drop all charges.

According to New York magazine, Mr Trump’s adult children — Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka — pushed for Mr Lewandowski’s ouster, saying he was not up to the job in the runup to November 8.

“I have no regrets,” Mr Lewandowski told CNN. “I’m so thankful for this chance and I know that what I will do moving forward is share my advice... with Mr Trump and the team if they want it.”

The Trump campaign is “deeply troubled,” said political analyst Larry Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“This is a campaign that is underfunded, that isn’t properly organized. The convention itself is questionable in terms of what it’s going to produce.”

Sabato added: “The Clinton campaign is simply light-years ahead of the Trump campaign.”

Last week, Clinton — who has far better funding thanks to supporters and big donors — launched a media blitz of ads attacking Trump in eight key states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old British man has been charged for trying to grab a police officer’s gun at a Trump rally in Las Vegas in an apparent bid to kill the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

According to a complaint filed in federal court in Nevada, Michael Sandford tried to disarm the officer at Saturday’s rally at the Mystere Theatre in the Treasure Island Casino before being overpowered.

It said the young man told a Secret Service agent after his arrest that he had driven from California to Las Vegas “to kill Trump,” and had been to a range a day earlier to learn to shoot as he had never fired a gun before.

“Sandford acknowledged that he would likely only be able to fire one to two rounds and stated he was convinced he would be killed by law enforcement during his attempt on Trump’s life,” the complaint said.

It added that Sandford told investigators he had purchased tickets for a rally in Phoenix, where he “would try again to kill Trump” in the event his plan in Las Vegas failed.

Video of his arrest carried by US media show a skinny man with short brown hair and a grey T-shirt being quickly escorted out of the rally by police officers with his hands behind his back.