From the June 21 edition of CBS This Morning:
On CBS, Former Romney Adviser Dismisses Claim Lewandowski Firing Will Help Trump Campaign
Dan Senor: “Donald Trump Has A Donald Trump Problem, Not A Corey Lewandowski Problem”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
CHARLIE ROSE (CO-HOST): Is this simply about about Trump believing that he can change his campaign and believing that [Corey] Lewandowski stood in the way?
DAN SENOR: That may be what he believes but my sense is, and I think the sense among many Republicans, is Donald Trump has a Donald Trump problem, not a Corey Lewandowski problem. So if you look at the two elements that are most important in presidential politics, there's sort of the science of the campaign, the operations, the field game, the staff, the coordinating surrogates, the fundraising, and then there's the art. There's the science and there's the art, just the general performance. In both areas, the science, the operations, have been a disaster. He has very few employees. He hasn't raised any money. He has no operations in the field. And on the art, the performance, if you look at how he's used the last six weeks since he's sewn up the nomination, it's been gaffe after gaffe after self-inflicted wound after self-inflicted wound. So both the science and the art are failing him. And it's not clear to me that just a tweak by changing his campaign manager is going to fix these problems. These are Donald Trump problems.
GAYLE KING (CO-HOST): Do you think he --
ROSE: Well that was my question, whether he can do that.
KING: But do you think he knows that he's in trouble? You keep hearing words like “chaos,” “disarray,” “hot mess,” but does he understand how deep this problem is?
SENOR: I don't know. But my sense is he has a lot of people telling him he has a real problem. But if you also look at the way he's performed not the only over the last year in politics but over his entire career, whether it's in book publishing, whether it's in real estate, whether it's in reality TV, at every stage of his career he's operated at one speed: highly inflammatory, highly divisive rhetoric, sort of shooting from the hip, one-man band. This is never someone who has shown discipline, willing to work as part of a massive national organization and has been willing to restrain his rhetoric in order to calm supporters down.
KING: So what difference do you expect Paul Manafort to make?
SENOR: None. I actually think there's going to be no difference. We're three weeks away from the convention. And just think about this. He's got three big pivot points left for him: the convention, choosing a VP, and the debates, OK? We're heading into the convention. There's already a revolt brewing among delegates to dislodge him at the convention.
Previously:
“Chaos” And “Disaster”: Media Contextualize Lewandowski’s Firing Amid Larger Trump Campaign Disarray
Right-Wing Media Attempt To Spin Trump’s Firing Of Campaign Manager As A Positive
On CBS, Former Romney Adviser Calls Trump's Muslim Ban “Unconstitutional” And “Abhorrent”