Controversial Campaign Manager Who Shoved Female Reporters, Ousted

Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's abrupt firing Monday came down to a battle of ultimatums, reports FoxNews. And ultimately, Lewandowski lost.

Paul Manafort, the veteran political aparatchik who since March has been amassing influence inside Trump HQ, recently told Trump through third parties he would quit in 48 hours if Trump didn't oust Lewandowski. Trump was reluctant to dump the man who had run his campaign from the time he declared his candidacy a year ago. But Manafort had had it with fighting Lewandowski and let the campaign know the two of them "just couldn't get along."

From there, it became a family affair. Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner didn't want to lose Manafort, believing him to be the more experienced hand to guide the campaign into the general election.

They convinced Trump to keep him – and the only way to do that, given Manafort's terms, was to dump Lewandowski. Faced with a choice, Trump chose Manafort.

This account was relayed to Fox News by a campaign source. The details shed light on arguably the biggest staff shake-up of the 2016 cycle.

The Washington Post, which of course does not get along with Trump or Lewandowski (Understatement; the Trump campaign and the WaPo are at war);

describes the firing of Lewandowski as a "desperate measure to save a floundering campaign:"

Trump’s dismissal of Lewandowski — his combative campaign manager and one of his longest-serving aides — was seen as an effort to calm allies, donors and Republican officials who have grown increasingly alarmed by recent missteps and unwanted dramas that threaten to undermine the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s chances in November.

A Trump loyalist whose mantra was “Let Trump be Trump,” ­Lewandowski chafed at suggestions that the candidate behave more presidentially. His departure consolidates power around veteran GOP operative and lobbyist Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman and senior strategist, who has been trying with limited success to professionalize the campaign. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-fires-top-aide-in-an-urgent-move-to-reboot-his-floundering-campaign/2016/06/20/5f36ac9e-36f6-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html

The New York Times which, well, also does not get along with Trump or Lewandowski, described the move as an attempt to please establishment Republicans:

Mr. Trump had faced increasing concerns from allies and donors, as well as his children, over whether Mr. Lewandowski, who had never before worked on a national race, was able to direct a battle against Mrs. Clinton. Among those who had voiced concern was Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who told Mr. Trump last week that relations between his committee and Mr. Lewandowski had become increasingly strained, and that a change would be welcome, according to three people briefed on the discussion.

Republicans across the spectrum welcomed the firing as a positive step, but they suggested that it needed to be followed by consistent changes in performance from the candidate himself. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/corey-lewandowski-donald-trump.html?_r=0

Mr. Lewandowski was fired at a Monday morning meeting with Mr. Trump and Mr. Trump’s two older sons, Eric and Donald Jr., said two others briefed on the meeting,who were not authorized to speak publicly. Mr. Trump and Mr. Lewandowski had what was described as a “very open conversation.”

Corey Lewandowski (born September 18, 1973) is an American political operative. He was previously the campaign manager of businessman Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for President of the United States.

Prior to joining Trump's campaign, Lewandowski worked for several campaigns and was a lobbyist. He worked for Americans for Prosperity in a variety of roles, and led the group's national voter-registration effort for 11 months.[5] Lewandowski also had previously run unsuccessfully for office himself twice, once in Massachusetts and once in New Hampsh