In this March 12, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks in Vandalia, Ohio. Trump wants to win the White House in November. House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to save the Republican Party for the future. Those goals put Trump and Ryan increasingly at odds over both tone and substance as the billionaire businessman barrels toward the GOP presidential nomination.
A former director for a pro-Donald Trump super PAC penned a blistering column on Monday calling the GOP front-runner a self-preservationist who would stab any one of his supporters in the back if it earned him a cent more in his pocket.
Stephanie Cegielski, the former communications director for Mr. Trumps short-lived Make America Great Again super PAC, claimed in an open letter for XOJane that Mr. Trump aimed to position himself as a protest candidate and never expected to do so well in the Republican primary.
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What was once Trumps desire to rank second place to send a message to America and to increase his power as a businessman has nightmarishly morphed into a charade that is poised to do irreparable damage to this country if we do not stop this campaign in its tracks, she wrote.
And I am now taking full responsibility for helping create this monster and reaching out directly to those voters who, like me, wanted Trump to be the real deal, Ms. Cegielski wrote. I dont think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I dont even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all.
He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the drivers seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness. The Donald is his own biggest enemy.
Ill say it again: Trump never intended to be the candidate. But his pride is too out of control to stop him now, she continued. He doesnt want the White House. He just wants to be able to say that he could have run the White House. Hes achieved that already and then some. If there is any question, take it from someone who was recruited to help the candidate succeed, and initially very much wanted him to do so.
Ms. Cegielski went on to call Mr. Trump a self-preservationist who only cares about himself.
The man does not know policy, nor does he have the humility to admit what he does not know the most frightening position of all, she wrote. And he has no problem abusing your support the same way he cheated hard-working men and women out of millions of dollars, for which he is now being sued.
No matter how many times he repeats it, Trump would not be the best at being a president, being in shape, fighting terrorism, selling steaks, and whatever other best claim he has made in the last 15 minutes, she wrote. He would be the best at something, though. He is the best at looking out for Donald Trump at all costs. Dont let our country pay that price.
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, dismissedMs. Cegielskis assertions.
This person was never employed by the Trump campaign. Evidently she worked for a Super PAC which Mr. Trump disavowed and requested the closure of via the FEC, she said. She knows nothing about Mr. Trump or the campaign, and her disingenuous and factually inaccurate statements in no way resemble any shred of truth. This is yet another desperate person looking for their fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is running for President because he is the only one who will Make America Great Again.