'Hanging by a thread': MSNBC analyst sees signal that Trump close to firing campaign heads
Returning from Philadelphia where he covered the Tuesday night debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, MSNBC contributor John Heilemann suggested a Trump campaign shake-up could soon be in the works.
Speaking with "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist, the political analyst stated that the heads of Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris La Civita could be on the chopping block after the debate disaster that even has noted GOP pollster Frank Luntz saying he sees no path for Trump to win.
"Is there anyone around him at this point who can say, 'Hey, man, if the idea is to win a general election, what you did the other night is not helping. In fact, it's hurting your chances to win the election'?" Geist prompted his guest.
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"The two people who can say that and have said that are hanging by a thread with their jobs right now. Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles," he replied. "When he came out in the spin room, you saw a bunch of his surrogates come out who looked like they had had their pets eaten by this mythological, totally racist trope around these Ohio Haitian immigrants."
"Stephen Miller and Matt Gaetz and the great debate prepper of our time, Tulsi Gabbard — the debate team of Gabbard and Gaetz which was kind of taking shape, I don't think they are going to make a big mark on that world going forward," he joked. "But who was not out there in the spin room? Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita."
"Donald Trump then came out at about the hour mark," he continued. " Now we have seen Donald Trump come into the spin room triumphal. People forget the Hofstra debate in 2016, the very first one. He was out there in five minutes and tried to own the spin room in the past. But the hourlong gap was crucial, because he had watched the coverage for over an hour."
"The word from backstage in the aftermath of that was the vibes between him and LaCivita and Wiles were not positive," he added before asking, "How many people around this table think Donald Trump is blaming himself for his poor debate performance?"
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