President Donald Trump said he never lashed out at his campaign manager and that a CNN article indicating he did is “Fake News.”
On Wednesday, CNN reported Trump shouted into the phone at his campaign manager Brad Parscale over polling numbers indicating he is behind Joe Biden in several key states.
The screaming match took place on Friday night, sources told CNN. They said Trump slammed Parscale for the slip in the polls and even threatened to sue him. Trump blamed Parscale for the state of the race and insisted the polls were wrong. The two apparently smoothed things over later Friday night. Parscale was back at the White House on Tuesday to discuss campaign strategies.
In an early Thursday morning Twitter post, Trump said he never shouted at Parscale.
“Actually, he is doing a great job, I never shouted at him (been with me for years, including the 2016 win), & have no intention to do so. Just FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted.
The outburst reportedly came several days after the Parscale and other political advisers briefed the president on internal campaign reports and Republican National Committee data showing Biden was ahead in a few battleground states, CNN reports.
They pointed out his combative attitude in news conferences was hurting him. The next day his comments about using disinfectant to treat the coronavirus hurt his popularity even more with swing voters causing advisers to urge Trump to lay off the briefings. This week the briefings have been scaled back.
Trump took aim at unspecified polls later Thursday morning declaring them "FAKE POLLING, just like 2016 (but worse)!"