Donald Trump's three eldest children helped "augment" his decision to dump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump Jr. said Monday, calling the bombshell firing "a regular move toward unity."
In an interview on Bloomberg's
"With All Due Respect," Trump Jr. said his father's presidential campaign "is transitioning — going from candidate to presumptive nominee to actual nominee and there is a great evolution in that."
"We have a great relationship with Corey," Trump Jr. said. "He has done something that is incredible. I wish all separations of this nature went that well. In many respects [my father] was coming to that on his own and we were there to augment that. And think it through."
"We are involved, we speak to him every hour," Trump Jr. added, but the presumptive GOP presidential nominee "will come to those decisions himself."
Trump Jr. described Lewandowski's departure — and the ascension of Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort — as a necessary step to take the campaign to the finish line.
"We are up against a very big machine and we need … those relationships that have that experience," he said. "We have a good relationship with Corey… To not only win the nomination but to do it at a level where you have the greatest voter turnout in GOP history, it is pretty special. But there's is a time when we have to move on and adapt and that time is now before the convention. Makes perfect sense."
Trump Jr. conceded "making that transition is not always the easiest."
"This sets a precedent and shows we're doing that my we're making that shift and we are doing this as we want to unite the party and have everyone behind us which — for the ultimate objective, beating Hillary Clinton," he said.
The surprise move came as Trump faces continued deep resistance from many quarters of his party concerned by his contentious statements and his faltering poll numbers — and persistent reports of tension between Lewandowski and campaign chairman
Manafort, who was hired in March.
But Trump Jr. said the
reports of infighting have been exaggerated.
"We can deny some of these gross allegations over this crazy infighting that was going on," he said.
"If I did not know better I would think I was watching Game of Thrones. There is the difference between what is actual versus what is being reported. It is hard to fill a 24 hour new cycle. I get it. As exciting as this stuff can be for me, it is not that exciting to average people. You have to create the storyline. I get it. What I can say is none of the stuff that has been reported… is not nearly as exciting and dramatic as it is in 140 characters or less on my Twitter feed."
Lewandowski, a former New Hampshire field director for a conservative advocacy group, has been with Trump since the wealthy New York developer began his White House bid a year ago. He's still scheduled to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland as the chairman of New Hampshire's delegation.
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