Paul Manafort left Donald Trump's campaign because the GOP nominee didn't want the veteran political operative's issues "looming over the campaign" as the general election approaches, Trump's son Eric said Friday, a few hours after Trump announced Manafort's resignation.
"I think my father didn't want to be distracted by whatever things Paul was dealing with," he told Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo in an interview set to play in full this Sunday. "Again, my father just didn't want to have the distraction looming over the campaign and quite frankly, looming over all the issues that Hillary's facing right now."
He described Manafort, who was initially hired as a convention consultant, as being "amazing" at helping the campaign "get through the primary process. He helped us with the convention [and] he did a great job with the delegates."
Manafort's role grew with the campaign, especially after Trump fired controversial former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and he became the Trump campaign's main aide in the weeks after the convention.
However, this week Trump effectively demoted Manafort when he promoted Republican pollster and senior campaign adviser Kellyanne Conway to the position of campaign manager, and Breitbart's Steve Bannon to become the campaign's CEO.
The two new additions will be the "ones that are going to bring us all the way through Nov. 8 and ultimately get us the victory," Trump told Bartiromo.
Manafort's resignation came amid revelations this week over his ties to Ukraine politicians and pro-Kremlin businessmen, with ledger reports surfacing over work he performed for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and other officials supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Eric Trump also appeared on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program just before Manafort's resignation was announced, but in that interview praised his father for admitting he sometimes says the "wrong thing" in the "heat of debate."
"The room went crazy," Trump told show host Bill Hemmer about the North Carolina audience. "I did. But the room went crazy. I really like 'humble Trump.' That's what I saw last night. He's not a politician or PC guy, and he has won on not being politically correct. Every single day he's out there giving speeches. Hillary Clinton hasn't given a press conference in 267 days."
Trump said that the public often hears the "little rehearsed sound bite," but that that isn't who is father is.
"He has strayed, and he admitted it last night," said Trump, noting that his father was likely talking about words he'd said against his former rivals and others, such as a Gold Star couple who he criticized.
"A lot of controversies over the course of the campaign have been totally taken out of context," said Trump. "Last night he admitted sometimes he stepped over that line. And again he's always run on not being politically correct. That's what makes him so special as a candidate. He's an amazing guy. But it's cool that he toned it back."
The "humble Trump," said his son, is the father he knows.
"He's an amazing man with a heart of gold," Trump told Hemmer. "I have seen that my whole life. That's what you saw last night and I think people will see more of that. He's not doing this for fun. He's not running for the presidency of the U.S. for fun. He is doing this because he cares about the American people and this country has given him everything."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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