Trump Dumps Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - There's been a major shakeup in the Donald Trump presidential campaign.
Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski is leaving the team.
Spokeswoman Hope Hicks released a statement:
"The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign. The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future."
A hard-charging figure, and in some ways as unconventional as the candidate himself, Lewandowski had been by Trump's side since the beginning of his unlikely rise to presumptive GOP nominee.
The move came as Trump faces continued deep resistance from many quarters of his party concerned by his contentious statements.
Back in March, Lewandowski was charged with battery after an altercation with Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. Trump made several statements defending Lewandowski, and prosecutors declined to pursue the charges.
Lewandowski's managing style of his candidate was "letting Trump be Trump," CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
Just an hour after the announcement, a top Trump aide appeared to celebrate on Twitter.
Michael Caputo tweeted "Ding dong the witch is dead."
Lewandowski frequently dismissed the idea Trump needed to rein in his rhetoric and hire more experienced Republican political hands, Doris reported.
Lewandowski seemed visibly irritated when shown the tweet, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.
"Look, I don't know Michael Caputo. He's a volunteer who's been with the campaign for three of four weeks. I think he's in Cleveland, I don't actually know him," he told CNN.
He also took aim at Clinton and said he would still do whatever he could to help Trump win the election. A new Monmouth University poll shows Clinton with an 8-point lead over Trump among likely voters.
As the Republican National Convention nears, its reported Trump may be looking for a different approach to win the general election.
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