The latest addition to real estate mogul Donald Trump’s presidential campaign staff raised doubts about Trump’s authenticity and “moral center” while working for a rival GOP campaign, the Des Moines Register reported Wednesday night.
Conservative activist Sam Clovis previously served as the Iowa chairman for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign. Clovis announced he was stepping down Monday after Perry’s campaign confirmed it was unable to pay staffers at the national headquarters and state offices.
On Tuesday, the Trump campaign announced Clovis had joined as its national co-chairman and policy adviser.
For its Wednesday article, the Register obtained emails (from a Perry supporter) that Clovis sent while he was working for Perry in which he raised doubts about the GOP frontrunner.
“(Trump) left me with questions about his moral center and his foundational beliefs,” Clovis wrote in email 35 days before he joined Trump’s campaign as a national co-chairman, according to the Des Moines Register. “His comments reveal no foundation in Christ, which is a big deal.”
Clovis verified the emails’ authenticity to the newspaper. He did not confirm how much he is being paid.
In late July, according to the newspaper, Clovis wrote an email to one Iowan that Trump’s disparaging comments about the time Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spent as a prisoner of war were “insulting.”
“Mr. Trump’s remarks were insulting to me as a veteran and as a person whose family sacrificed for 25 years as I missed anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, Christmases and Easters,” Clovis wrote, according to the Register.
Clovis told the newspaper he became satisfied with Trump’s views.
Clovis said he had a chance to “look him in the eye and ask him the tough questions.”
Trump said on Thursday afternoon he was happy with Clovis joining his campaign.
“We love having Sam,” Trump told reporters while taking questions after a campaign stop in Greenville, South Carolina.
