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Trump campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles feature prominently in most of the anecdotes, including those in which there were few other people in the room. Seems pretty obvious at least one, or both, of them are sources for the story, which is hilarious. Put another way, they don’t want the blame.
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As you read the story, you realize that Trump’s sparkling record of burning every single person who works for him remains undefeated.
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Much of the story is about how hard the campaign tried to restrain Trump’s worst impulses, like claiming he didn’t know if Vice President Kamala Harris was Black at an event by the National Association of Black Journalists. And so, Alberta reports, “In the days after his NABJ appearance—as staffers scrambled to satisfy their boss’s appetite for pugilism without indulging his racist and misogynistic impulses—Trump began to lose confidence in his team.”
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It’s a den of vipers over at the Trump campaign, with LaCivita and Wiles being undermined by Richard Grenell, (Trump’s acting director of national intelligence during the coup attempt), Lara Loomer, Corey Lewandowski, and Kellyanne Conway, all of them horrible people.
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Lewandowski, one of Trump’s 2016 campaign managers, was booted from Team Trump in 2021 for making advances on the wife of a Trump donor. He was charged with the incident and pleaded out. The New York Post reported in September 2023 that multiple anonymous sources claimed he was having an affair with the married governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem. He was accused of sexual assault by a singer in 2017. Oh, also a reporter in 2016, but that was simple assault and battery. For once, it wasn’t rapey. It’s easy to see why Trump enjoys having him around.
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Alberta reports: “Trump’s conversations with Conway troubled Wiles and LaCivita. They knew that she and Trump were talking more and more frequently; they also knew she loved to take credit for electing him in 2016, and wouldn’t be eager to share accolades with her successors.” What source would have given Alberta this information, if not Wiles and LaCivita? And note their big concern is who gets credit for something that hasn’t happened yet.
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Conway is getting a $30,000 per month retainer from the Republican National Committee, more interested in spending (and receiving) money on the grift than in doing things that might help them win the election like, say, building a ground game. According to Alberta, the retainer was a way to get her off the backs of Wiles and LaCivita—which, hilariously, seems not to have worked.
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Lewandowski walks around claiming he’s in charge, when he’s not. Or maybe he is. No one really seems to know. As you can imagine, that doesn’t make for a harmonious and well-running operation.
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Alberta: “Even as colleagues grew tired of hearing Lewandowski describe himself as the former president’s personal proxy, they realized he wasn’t wrong. His arrival coincided with a marked shift in Trump’s mood and behavior. Gone, suddenly, was the candidate of 2024, who despite all the inevitable outbursts was at least receptive to direction and aware of consequences; in his place, as the summer progressed, was the alter ego of 2016, the candidate who did and said whatever he wanted and ignored anyone who sought to rein him in.” LaCivita and Wiles are like, “It wasn’t us!” For his part, Lewandowski accused LaCivita of embezzlement based on this story by The Daily Beast, which others in the campaign think he planted.
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There is tension between Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s young 4Chan-infused staffers and Trump’s leadership. They weren’t pleased when Vance went off about Haitians eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, and they were mortified that Trump played along. “The former president’s advisers were bewildered by Vance’s post,” Alberta writes. “Though they went out of their way to avoid any talk of Springfield for the duration of the debate prep, there was an ominous feeling that Trump wouldn’t be able to help himself.” Duh, he wouldn’t help himself. Sheesh.
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The article singles out one young Vance staffer, Alex Bruesewitz. He didn’t just talk Vance into running with the racist Springfield story, but he’s supposedly also the guy who hired comedian Tony Hinchcliffe for the Madison Square Garden rally. That’s some quality finger-pointing and blame casting!
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Sad to report, Alberta reports that Trump was not having an affair with Lara Loomer. But his campaign staff knew she was toxic, something that has been previously reported. This anecdote was gold: “They neutralized a volatile situation at the convention this summer, for example, by providing Loomer with a front-row seat for Trump’s acceptance speech—putting her in close physical proximity to her idol while keeping her far from the VIP area that cameras would be shooting live.”
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Everyone in the campaign and Republican allies were reportedly furious at Wiles for letting Loomer on the plane heading to the debate, and the next day, at the 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York City. (Loomer is a 9/11 truther.) Weirdly, no one was furious at Trump for demanding she accompany him.
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Trump always plays dumb when he’s caught screwing up: “After the cameras showed Loomer standing near Trump at Ground Zero, the former president’s own phone lit up. For the rest of the day, friends and associates and donors dialed his number with a manic urgency. Some read him old tweets that Loomer had sent; others demanded that whoever let this woman aboard the plane be fired. Senator Lindsey Graham asked Trump if he was trying to lose the election. To all of this Trump pleaded ignorance. He began complaining to aides that nobody had ever explained to him, specifically, why Loomer was so toxic. “
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Trump didn’t seem too concerned about all the crazy shit Loomer had tweeted. He probably agreed with all of it, which is why he likes her around! But supposedly, he booted her from the plane because, Alberta writes, “Trump, who is generally appalled by plastic surgery, was disgusted to learn about the apparent extent of Loomer’s facial alterations.” Um, everyone around him has had plastic surgery. I don’t judge. I don’t care. But are we really going to pretend that Trump suddenly has some aversion to cosmetic procedures?
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Wiles and LaCivita gave Trump a chance to fire them at least twice, and Trump refused. It’s been reported in the past that he relishes pitting executives against each other. “I like conflict,” he said at a White House news conference in 2018. “It’s tough. I like having two people with different points of view. I like watching it, I like seeing it, and I think it’s the best way to go. I certainly have that, and then I make a decision.” He thinks it’s sport. Meanwhile, his campaign operation is tearing itself apart.
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When Lewandowski wore out his welcome, he grumbled, “Sir, I’m the only fucking person on this plane who isn’t getting paid to be here right now.” Someone finally called Trump “sir”! He added, “I’m happy to go back to fucking New Hampshire.” Trump responded that he wanted Lewandowski on TV instead, “And go win me New Hampshire, while you’re at it.” An agitated Lewandowski shot back, “You’re not going to win New Hampshire, but okay.” That whole exchange is hilarious. The campaign thinks that Lewandowski subsequently used Noem to keep sowing division inside the campaign. The paranoia runs deep, but it’s all weirdly plausible!
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In case you think Wiles and LaCivita are some kind of geniuses, there’s this doozy: “As September gave way to October, and Harris launched a major media offensive aimed at connecting with voters who still felt no familiarity with her, Trump’s campaign was delighted to cede the spotlight. Wiles and LaCivita believed that every moment Harris spent in front of live cameras translated to more Republican votes.” Actually, Harris’ numbers went up, and they “ceded the spotlight” because the campaign could only raise a fraction of what Harris was raising. They were broke. But remember, this whole article is Wiles and LaCivita shifting blame. And they haven’t even lost yet!
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Remember Trump weirdly swaying to music for nearly 40 minutes at that rally? His campaign considered cutting the music, but, “Ultimately, they decided, letting him dance was less dangerous than letting him rant.”
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The campaign sources talking to Alberta acknowledge that they have no ground game, and Elon Musk’s efforts are a joke.
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None of the staffers had any desire to keep working on a Trump administration if he won. Everyone he works with hates him.
