Veteran Republican political operative Rick Wiley, who was hired as Donald Trump's national political director in April, is already being shown the door.
"Rick Wiley was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam," the campaign said in a statement Wednesday. "It is now doing better than ever, we are leading in the polls, and we have many exciting events ready to go, far ahead of schedule, while Hillary continues her long, boring quest against Bernie. We would like to thank Rick for helping us during this transition period."
Wiley is the former executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party and he ran Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's ill-fated presidential campaign. Many pundits blamed Wiley for Walker's quick exit from the nomination battle after the campaign hired a massive campaign staff and quickly burned through its funds.
He was brought onto the campaign by Paul Manafort, whom Trump hired in a move meant to operate the campaign in a more traditional fashion when the nomination appeared to be in jeopardy. Many attributed the more low-key approach Trump took after winning the New York primary to Manafort's influence.
Manafort and Wiley were often at odds with the Trump team that had been with the businessman through his early successes, particularly Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, Politico reports. Politico attributes Wiley's departure to " an ongoing turf war atop the campaign."
When the Trump campaign announced Wiley's hiring, it did not mention he was intended as a "short-term" hire, but touted him as a "seasoned political expert with a very successful career of winning elections," and said he "will be a tremendous asset as we enter the final phase of securing the nomination."
