Is anybody astonished — or even mildly surprised — that Donald Trump has fired his campaign manager, Brad Parscale (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/16/trumps-campaign-manager-stepien-emotional-meeting-366277)?
This, after Parscale told Trump that one million people had signed up to attend his rally in Tulsa, in an auditorium with no masks required, and no social distancing required, but only 6,000 people turned up (followed by a conspicuous COVID-19 spike?)
So Parscale’s out as the top campaign guy, after Trump sent him back to Florida to do boring but essential data stuff.
He’s succeeded by Bill Stepien, who doesn’t make the mistake that Parscale made, of seeking out media interviews. Instead, Stepien is a behind the scenes guy who avoids the limelight.
If you work for Trump, it goes without saying that if you step in front of the cameras and try, whether intentionally or not, to get more media play than Trump, you’re done.
So we asked associate solitary reporter Johanna Jones whether Stepien has a better chance of success, with the election only four months away, of getting his guy across the finish line.
“SR,” she told us, “not a chance."