Paul Manafort resigned Friday morning from his position as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman. Manafort, recruited earlier this year to spearhead Trump’s Republican convention strategy, was a controversial figure for both his ties to a number of foreign dictators and his unique political strategies. He says he’s resigned willingly after realizing that Trump had a competent new team that needed space.
The writing, however, may have been on the wall for a while.
Source close to Manafort on the last weeks: "He had been getting that funny look from Trump for a little while. Trump would stop listening."
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) August 19, 2016
As we welcome in the new Trump era, we must honor the man who tried to make Donald Trump a new man. Manafort has had some great (and not-so-great) moments over the course of this Presidential campaign. Here are what we think were his top five.
1. The Cory Coup: Paul Manafort is cool, calm and collected, and nothing demonstrated his mettle better than his mid-spring takeover of the Trump campaign. Quickly moving in on embattled campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, Manafort turned Trump’s allegiances away from Lewandowski with a series of well-timed rumors about Lewandowski’s divided loyalties. Lewandowski stayed in communication with Trump, but had to settle for a CNN contributorship.
2. Women Will Vote for Trump to Help Their Husbands: Donald Trump has some legendary troubles with women voters, and Paul Manafort did little to clarify his candidate’s position on powerful ladies with a mid-convention MSNBC spot. He told host Chris Matthews that Trump could turn it around with the lady-vote by appealing to their deepest concerns: their husbands.
3. Supporting Paul Ryan for President: Donald Trump had to walk a fine line in the Wisconsin primary, between the Speaker of the House who begrudgingly endorsed him, and the Speaker’s pro-Trump opponent who was, to put it nicely, a hot mess. Manafort tried to clarify Trump’s fence-sitting by saying Trump was just trying to help a buddy out, and besides, Paul Ryan would make a great President (oops).
4. The Pro-Putin Payout: Rumors that Manafort had some shady connections persisted throughout his tenure with the Trump campaign, from questions over whether Manafort was courting Russian troll farms to push Trump on social media, to whether Manafort was still on the pro-Putin payroll. Recently, though, a Ukranian investigation revealed Manafort may have received up to $12 million in off-the-books payouts from a deposed Ukranian despot.
5. The Moment Manafort Spoke for Us All: Although it’s a little-mentioned moment, Manafort described, in early August, exactly how we all felt about how the entire Presidential campaign had progressed over the course of the summer. “We’re living in the ultimate reality show,” he declared.
We’ll miss you, Paul.
