Staff leaks from 2016 presidential campaigns
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This article is about staff leaks from the 2016 presidential campaigns. Here, the staff of Ballotpedia chronicled episodes of campaign staffers leaking to the press about what was going on inside their campaign.
When campaign staffers leak to the press, it can mean:
- The campaign is faltering
- There is discord within the campaign about the direction of the campaign which in some cases, leads to some staffers -- usually the ones on the losing side of the internal argument -- deciding to take their case to the press. As top Obama strategist David Axelrod said, "“The test of a good campaign is how it deals with adversity and whether people pick each other up, support each other or whether they start leaking on each other and trying to purge each other".[1]
- The staffers who are leaking may not feel personal loyalty to their candidate
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign was famously plagued by leaks. Politico wrote, "Reporters covering Clinton’s 2008 White House bid relished the dirty laundry her senior staffers dished about each other as then-Sen. Barack Obama surged ahead of the pack."[1]
After Clinton's 2016 loss in the New Hampshire primaries to Bernie Sanders, leaks originated from people described by Politico as "close to the situation" that the Clintons were considering a staff shake-up. Politico quoted an unnamed campaign staffer saying, "The Clintons are not happy and have been letting all of us know that. The idea is that we need a more forward-looking message, for the primary — but also for the general election too. … There’s no sense of panic, but there is an urgency to fix these problems right now." Pollster Joel Benenson was said to particularly be the target of rumors about dissatisfaction. Clinton herself dismissed this as gossip, saying, "I have no idea what they’re talking about or who they are talking to."[2]
Republicans
Ben Carson
On February 4, 2016, NBC reported that about 50 Carson staffers would be cut amid campaign money problems. According to a campaign aide who spoke to NBC, "the shakeups will help them last though the early primary states, 'and beyond.'"[3]
Ted Cruz
On February 22, 2016, CNN reported the following:
| “ | "The Cruz campaign has to focus on getting basic campaign techniques right," said a Republican operative who works for the presidential campaign, who asked not to be identified. "I don't think Cruz can win the nomination at this point. I think his campaign is done."[4] | ” |
Donald Trump
On February 3, 2016, Politico reported on the "tension inside the Trump campaign about the robustness of its field and data operations. One person familiar with the disagreements said Trump’s state directors have been denied funding for their field and data requests."[6]
On February 15, 2016, in an article about a possible brokered Republican nominating convention, Politico quoted a person they described as "intimately involved with Trump's political operation" speaking on the question of whether the Donald Trump campaign is taking steps to prepare for a brokered convention. This anonymous staffer maintained to Politico that the campaign is not doing what it needs to do; specifically, it is not courting members of the RNC who are automatic delegates to the July 2016 GOP presidential nominating convention. The frustrated staffer said, "Somebody’s got to be talking to these pricks and at least taking them off the accelerator and making sure they’re not working against you".[7]
Corey Lewandowski reduced role
On April 2, 2016, Politico reported that Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's role in the campaign was shrinking. An insider quoted in the piece stated the following:
| “ | “I’m not saying Corey’s going to be fired or anything because I don’t think he’s going to be, at least not at this juncture,” said a person involved in Trump’s campaign. “But Mr. Trump’s listening to other people now. The crew’s expanding. The inner circle is not what it used to be.[4] | ” |
Deputy Campaign Manager Michael Glassner was promoted from national political director in early March 2016, which according to a source in the article "was not something Corey wanted to happen because it put someone in line as a successor in case he had to leave", and created resentment towards Glassner amount staffers loyal to Lewandowski. In early March, Trump campaign staffer Stuart Jolly was promoted to "national field director, giving him primary authority over the hiring and firing of field staff."[8]
The piece noted the following view of some inside the Trump camp:
| “ | People close to Trump “have voiced concerns that Trump is not going to be able to win over the party apparatus if they have someone like Corey running the show,” the friend said.[4] | ” |
Post-Wisconsin primary infighting
According to a Politico report on April 6, 2016, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was at the center of campaign infighting following the campaign's loss in April's Wisconsin primary. The article cited a source close to the campaign saying that the primary tension was between Lewandowski and convention manager Paul Manafort:[9]
| “ | Behind the scenes, Lewandowski is fighting to preserve his own power and to box out Paul Manafort, who was hired last month to lead the campaign’s delegate corralling effort. “Corey and his people know the knives are out for them,” said one source close to the campaign, referring to Manafort as a “pretty experienced in-fighter.”
On Saturday, Lewandowski went as far as to fire a young operative named James Baker, who’d been recently put in charge of its Colorado campaign—he’d arrived in the state less than 48 hours earlier—because he’d been communicating with Manafort after Lewandowski instructed him not to do so, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed. Lewandowski disputed the reason for Baker's dismissal.[4] |
” |
Leaked RNC audio
Leaked audio from an April 21, 2016, meeting with members of the Republican National Committee revealed that Trump's convention manager Paul Manafort had said that Trump had been "projecting an image" up to that point in the campaign. According to The Associated Press, Manafort said:[10]
| “ | When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. ... You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different way. ... He gets it. The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change.[4] | ” |
Paul Manafort's role
On April 26, 2016, Politico reported that Trump had been growing frustrated with convention manager Paul Manafort, who had taken an increased role in the campaign since being hired in March. Citing a number of operatives "close to the campaign," the article detailed that Trump may not have been "aware of the extent of the work that Paul has done in foreign countries that have not always been friendly to the United States." Politico also reported that staff loyal to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski "grumble that Manafort has spent a disproportionate amount of time on television — just as Trump himself has been avoiding the Sunday morning talk show circuit at Manafort’s urging."[11]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Politico, "Hillary Clinton's fear of leaks", January 23, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Clinton weighs staff shake-up after New Hampshire", February 8, 2016
- ↑ NBC, "Amid Money Woes, Ben Carson Cuts Campaign Staff," February 4, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CNN, "Ted Cruz under fire," February 22, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Trump resists staff calls to change course," February 3, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Campaigns secretly prep for brokered GOP convention", February 16, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Politico, "Trump campaign shrinks Lewandowski's role," April 2, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Wisconsin meltdown puts Trump on track for convention fight," April 6, 2016
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Correction: Campaign 2016 story," April 21, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Trump rejects new adviser’s push to make him ‘presidential,’" April 26, 2016
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