Although Republican Donald Trump promised he would soon become “so presidential” that voters would be bored, a new Tuesday report says the frontrunner is resisting advice from his new top adviser on carrying out that pivot.
In the latest flare-up between warring factions within the Trump campaign, aligned with either campaign manager Corey Lewandowski or convention czar Paul Manafort, Politico reported Trump’s growing resentment of Manafort’s efforts to sand his rough edges. Multiple anonymous sources close to the campaign said Trump expressed concern about Manafort and was taking steps to shift some power back to Lewandowski, according to the report.
“Everyone coming in now thinks they’re going to be able to manhandle him and he’s not going to let it happen,” an anonymous operative close to Trump told the site. “These consultants are used to being smarter than their candidate and in this scenario, the candidate is smarter and willing to risk more than you are.”
Politico also suggested Trump’s notably subdued victory speech after the New York primary, where he shelved his favored “Lyin’ Ted Cruz” moniker in favor of “Sen. Cruz,” bore Manafort’s fingerprints, although the candidate rejected the strategist’s draft in favor of winging it at the podium.
In a closed-door meeting with the Republican National Committee last week, Manafort, joined by failed 2016 candidate Ben Carson, reassured officials Trump just was “projecting an image” on the stump and promised he would soon take a turn toward the presidential.
But Trump was right back at it during a Monday rally, calling Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s habit of eating on camera “disgusting.”
