Rumors that Donald Trump is considering firing two of his top campaign managers appear to have originated from a since-altered online article and a quote from a vocal critic of the former president.
On Tuesday, Daily MailAn article was published on the website saying that Trump was angry with his team for choosing Ohio Senator JD Vance as the Republican vice presidential candidate for 2024.
The original version of the story said Trump was considering firing his campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. Disclose.tv, a news aggregator, then cited the report on X, formerly Twitter, telling its 1.3 million followers: “NEW – Trump is reportedly in talks to fire campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles – DailyMail.”
The claim appears to be based on comments made by Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired as Trump’s White House communications director in July 2017 after serving in the position for just ten days.
On August 9, Scaramucci, who is now a frequent and outspoken critic of the former president, said on the podcast The rest is politics USA Trump was angry that his campaign had been linked to the “Project 2025” agenda and he faced backlash because Vance was a “terrible, terrible choice” for vice president.
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“He’s encouraging people on his campaign team right now because he chose Vance,” Scaramucci said, adding that Trump has “talked to people about” firing LaCivita and Wiles.
“They’re two extremely talented people. Boy, if he does that, I think it would be a disaster,” Scaramucci added.
The original headline for the Daily Mail The article said: “Inside Trump’s ‘breakdown’: The ex-president ‘fires up his staff because he’s mad’ at his choice of JD Vance – while insiders fear he will fire two ‘extremely talented’ campaign gurus.”
The headline was later changed to: “Former Trump aides say Donald is in a ‘breakdown’ and ‘feels election is slipping away’ … and is ‘encouraging campaigning.'”
The new version of the article removed the section about Scaramucci’s comments that Trump had discussed firing LaCivita and Wiles, and did not mention a single other comment that the former president had discussed the possible firing of his senior campaign advisers.
However, the edited version of the online story retained a photo of the couple with the caption “Trump reportedly talks with his confidants about firing his campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.”
Newsweek has contacted Daily Mail and Trump’s campaign team for comment via email.
Vance has faced sustained criticism since accepting the role as Trump’s running mate after his past comments about women, abortion and people without children resurfaced.
The senator’s popularity ratings are also negative: According to polls, he is the least popular vice presidential candidate among all non-incumbent candidates since the party convention in 1980.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, had previously dismissed reports that the former president was reconsidering his choice of running mate.
“President Trump is thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House,” Cheung said News week.
He added: “And any reporting to the contrary is nothing more than ridiculous false reports that come either from nonexistent sources or from people who have no idea what is going on.”
