Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced its split from national political director Rick Wiley on Wednesday.
A statement said the campaign hired Wiley in the middle of April on a temporary basis, and that his services are no longer needed given Trump’s success. Throughout Wiley’s time with the campaign, there have been reports that he did not see eye-to-eye with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski during clashes between Trump’s original staff and the later additions, including Paul Manafort.
“Rick Wiley was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam,” the campaign said in the statement. “It is now doing better than ever, we are leading in the polls, and we have many exciting events ready to go, far ahead of schedule, while Hillary continues her long, boring quest against Bernie. We would like to thank Rick for helping us during this transition period.”
Trump brought Wiley, a veteran political operative with the GOP, on board when the campaign sought to appeal more to the party’s establishment and elites. Recently, Wiley has also been in conflict with Karen Giorno, an operative from Lewandowski’s camp who led Trump’s campaign during the Florida primary, Politico reports.
[Politico]
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