Thread: Trump campaign in turmoil as aides stop challenging the mogul and top Republicans beg

Trump campaign in turmoil as aides stop challenging the mogul and top Republicans begin exploring ways to replace him on ballot

Donald Trump's Feuds Frustrating Trump Senior Staffers

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BY ADAM EDELMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, August 3, 2016, 1:29 PM

Donald Trump's campaign has descended into outright turmoil, with top advisers exasperated and "suicidal" — and Republican leaders are reportedly exploring ways to replace the mogul on the ticket.

Senior GOP officials have grown so bewildered with Trump's bizarre antics — most recently his aggression toward the Muslim-American parents of a fallen soldier, his peculiar flirtations with Vladimir Putin and his refusal to back House Speaker Paul Ryan’s reelection bid — that they are actively exploring how they could replace the bombastic billionaire if he were to abandon his bid, ABC News reported Wednesday.

With Trump breaking rule after rule this election season, officials aren't dismissing the possibility the huckster could give up his run and drop out of the race altogether before Election Day in November — and they want to be prepared if he does.

With Donald Trump breaking rule after rule this election season, officials aren’t dismissing the possibility that the huckster could give up his run and drop out of the race altogether.

(EVAN VUCCI/AP)

In that event, the 168 members of the RNC would initiate a complicated and drawn-out process that would result in the selection of a new nominee, ABC News reported.

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Underscoring those concerns, Trump's beleaguered campaign appeared on the verge of implosion Wednesday, as reports emerged that top aides had given up challenging the mogul over his outrageous statements and that other top Trump allies were planning an intervention in the coming days to encourage the candidate to do a hard reset of his message.

Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort reportedly has stopped challenging his boss.

(CAROLYN KASTER/AP)

Top aides, including campaign Chairman Paul Manafort have become paralyzingly frustrated with their inability to steer their boss away from waging unsavory fights — most recently his ongoing battle with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Muslim-American parents of a fallen U.S. soldier whom Trump has attacked repeatedly since their appearance at last week's Democratic National Convention.

He's also drawn serious flak for his refusal Tuesday to endorse the re-election bids of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his perpetual and uneducated musings regarding whether he has a relationship with Putin and over Russia's involvement in Ukraine.

1 PHOTOSVIEW GALLERY

Donald Trump's public feuds


His latest snafus have prompted his top staffers, including Manafort, to "feel like they are wasting their time" in trying to help the mogul, CNN reported.

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"Manafort has made clear no one can help him if no one believes he will do what it takes to win," a senior Trump aide told the network.

Donald Trump has faced blistering criticism for his decision to repeatedly attack Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala, who lost their son Humayun, an Army captain, in 2004.

(SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

CNBC reported Manafort had begun "mailing it in" and that his staff was "suicidal" over Trump's repeated and increasingly disastrous gaffes.

Indeed, the mogul has seen mass defections among high-profile Republicans, including Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) and GOP foreign policy expert Richard Armitage, who have all said in recent days and weeks, with increasingly harsh language, they would ditch Trump and vote for Hillary Clinton in November.

Trump has also drawn the ire of Republicans for refusing to back House Speaker Paul Ryan's reelection bid.

(JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES)

Spokespersons for the campaign have denied the team is rankled with division and chaos.

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Nevertheless, a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans that remains loyal to the temperamental tycoon is reportedly planning an "intervention" with the candidate to encourage him to reset his drifting campaign.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who have both remained close to Trump, as well as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who has endured a volatile relationship with the candidate, are hoping to convince their nominee he must move forward with more discipline and restraint in his message, NBC News reported.

The cohort is hoping to bring in Trump's adult children — Ivanka, Eric and Donald, Jr., who are all thought to have their rich daddy's ear more than anyone else in his circle — to try and talk some sense into him.

Manafort said Wednesday he wasn't aware of talks of a meeting and dismissed reports indicating otherwise.

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"The only need we have for an intervention is with some media types who keep saying things that aren't true," he said on Fox News Channel. "The candidate's in control of his own campaign."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2736971

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