President Donald Trump announced late on Wednesday that he has replaced Brad Parscale as Campaign Manager, demoting Parscale to Senior Advisor for digital and data strategies, and appointing Bill Stepien in his place.
After weeks of speculation about Parscale’s place within the campaign following dismal turnout at President Trump’s Tulsa rally, the president announced that Stepien will replace Parscale on social media.
“I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,” wrote President Trump. “Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Advisor to the campaign.”
“Both were involved in our historic win,” added President Trump. “I look forward to having a big and very important second win together.”
…campaign. Both were heavily involved in our historic 2016 win, and I look forward to having a big and very important second win together. This one should be a lot easier as our poll numbers are rising fast, the economy is getting better, vaccines and therapeutics will soon…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2020
…be on the way, and Americans want safe streets and communities!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2020
Parscale’s campaign strategy relied heavily on advertising buys on big tech platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Twitter famously suspended all political advertisements earlier this year, and Facebook has censored Republican ads following complaints from the media.
What the president frequently refers to as political censorship also plagues the platforms Parscale sought to leverage. President Trump recently signed an executive order targeting the liability protections granted to big tech companies in exchange for ensuring their services remain politically neutral public forums.
Stepien previously worked on the president’s 2016 campaign, then served as the White House Political Director for President Trump after his victory until returning to work on the president’s 2020 reelection campaign as a Senior Advisor in 2018.
Earlier, Stepien worked as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Campaign Manager and Deputy Chief of Staff until 2014, when the relationship between Stepien and Christie soured.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated with additional information as it becomes available.
