Just a reminder:
In recent days, Manafort had lost the confidence of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of his closest advisers, and other members of Trump’s family, according to a source close to the campaign. Kushner had once been a major backer of Manafort and was instrumental in his elevation — and the downfall of Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager.
The family was particularly troubled by reports of Manafort's involvement with Russia and felt he hadn’t been entirely forthright about his activities overseas, the source said. Family members were also unhappy about changes made to the GOP platform that were seen as beneficial to Russia, which they felt Manafort played a role in, the source added.
Manafort was also wary about his increasing scrutiny becoming a distraction, according to a senior Trump aide, echoing a point one of Trump’s sons acknowledged Friday.
“I think my father didn’t want to be, you know, distracted by, you know, whatever things Paul was dealing with,” Eric Trump said, according to an excerpt of an interview set to air on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Eric Trump called Manafort’s work through the primary “amazing” and praised him for getting the campaign through the convention.
“Now you look at Kellyanne [Conway] and some of the other people that we’re bringing in, and they’re absolutely fantastic, and I think they’re going to be the ones that bring us all the way through November 8th and ultimately get us the victory,” Eric Trump continued. “But again, my father just didn’t want to have the distraction looming over the campaign and, quite frankly, looming over all the issues that Hillary’s facing right now.”
The departure could help consolidate the power of Conway, who was promoted earlier this week to campaign manager and is credited with urging Trump to offer “regret” for his past offensive comments, and Breitbart executive Stephen Bannon, who was brought on as campaign CEO.
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Paul Manafort resigns from Trump campaign
