The Trump campaign is enlisting several formal allies ahead of the November election, including Corey Lewandowski, the former president’s 2016 campaign manager.
Lewandowski, who has been at the center of controversy as he has moved between the influence of former President Trump and the government, will join the former president’s recruitment plan in 2024.
Trump’s 2020 communications director, Tim Murtaugh, will join the campaign, as will Taylor Budowicz and Alex Pfeiffer, both of whom held senior positions at the Trump-supporting MAGA Inc. super PAC.
Trump ally Alex Brusewicz, who recently considered running for a Wisconsin congressional seat, is also set to formally join the campaign.
“As we enter the final stages of this election, we continue to build out our impressive campaign team,” Trump campaign aides Suzy Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement. “Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowicz, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Brusewitz and Tim Murtaugh are all veterans of Trump’s previous campaigns, and their unparalleled experience will help President Trump prosecute his case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, two of the most radical candidates in American history.”
Politico first reported the hiring.
Lewandowski served as Trump’s first campaign chairman in 2016, but was later ousted and replaced by Kellyanne Conway and campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
The Massachusetts native was fired from his top job at a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021 after being accused of making unwanted advances by the wife of a major donor at an event in Las Vegas.
He previously served on the campaign trail as an advisory board member at the Republican National Convention.
The staffing expansion comes as President Trump looks to re-launch his White House campaign in earnest, as Vice President Harris has lost her lead in the polls and gained momentum after being elected to replace President Biden.
A poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report found Harris narrowly ahead of Trump in five of the seven key states that could be decisive in November: Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Trump leads Harris in Nevada, and the candidates are tied in Georgia.
Republicans have been publicly urging Trump for days to focus more on his policy differences with Harris rather than personally attacking the vice president.
