New York magazine reported that sources inside presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign are concerned that former Trump campaign manager turned CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski “will give Trump hard-edged advice that goes against the campaign’s stated plan to soften and humanize the candidate.” Advisers and allies of Trump are reportedly also concerned Lewandowski “could play a wild-card role” during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Last month, CNN hired Lewandowski as a contributor days after he was fired from Trump’s campaign. The move drew sharp criticism from media experts, who questioned the network’s ethical solitude after hiring the former campaign manager who was reported to have a hostile and inappropriate relationship with reporters.
CNN has failed to answer additional ethical questions surrounding Lewandowski’s hire, declining to address the fact that Lewandowski was simultaneously receiving both severance pay from Trump’s campaign and a salary from the network while appearing on-air to campaign for and defend Trump from media criticism. In an open letter to CNN president Jeff Zucker, Media Matters president Bradley Beychok called on Zucker to publicly address questions regarding the hiring of Lewandowski or suspend him from the network.
In a July 17 article, New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reported that Trump’s “advisers and allies” have grown more concerned about Lewandowski’s role in the campaign. Sherman reported that “although Trump fired Lewandowski last month,” he has continued to lobby and advise Trump, pushing for the Trump to maintain his “off-the-cuff style” and instructing him not to apologize for a widely criticized tweet depicting Hillary Clinton and the Star of David -- a tweet Lewandowski defended using his CNN platform. From New York magazine's report:
As the Republican Convention gets underway, advisers and allies of Donald Trump are increasingly concerned that ousted campaign-manager-turned-CNN-pundit Corey Lewandowski could play a wild-card role in Cleveland. Their principal worry: Lewandowski will give Trump hard-edged advice that goes against the campaign’s stated plan to soften and humanize the candidate. “He'll be trying to undermine the campaign leadership by giving Trump bad advice,” longtime Trump confidante Roger Stone said. Another source said, “Corey will be working the convention rivalries into a froth.”
Although Trump fired Lewandowski last month, the power struggle between Lewandowski and campaign chairman Paul Manafort continues, sources close to the campaign say. Lewandowski is said to have lobbied hard for Trump to pick Chris Christie for vice-president. (Manafort’s choice was Mike Pence.) Lewandowski also told Trump not to hire Manafort’s choice for senior communications adviser, Jason Miller, because “he’s a Cruz guy” and would take power away.