Trump to Be ‘Actively Involved’ in GOP Politics, Has No Third-Party Plans: Former Adviser

Jack Phillips
1/28/2021
Updated:
1/28/2021

A longtime adviser to Donald Trump said the former president will continue to be “actively involved” in Republican Party politics.

“The president continues to have enormous support and approval among Republican primary voters. He continues to have hundreds of millions of dollars in his campaign account, which he can utilize. And he will continue to be actively involved in recruiting candidates and holding elected officials accountable for their votes,” Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager, told Fox News on Jan. 28.

Lewandowski, who managed Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, said Trump won’t form a separate party, after there were rumors and reports saying he might start his own “Patriot Party.”

“I don’t think the president has any interest in being part of a third party,” he said.

Trump’s political team disavowed any affiliation with a newly formed political committee called the MAGA Patriot Party.

“We are not supportive of this effort, have nothing to do with it, and only know about it through public reporting,” campaign adviser Jason Miller told The Epoch Times several days ago.

However, Lewandowski said the former president would be involved in supporting primary challenges against the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump earlier this month.

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at the U.S. Capitol on March 8, 2018. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at the U.S. Capitol on March 8, 2018. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“They will all get primary challenges in my opinion,” Lewandowski said. “I don’t know at what level the president’s going to weigh in on each of those races, but I think he will be involved in a number of them.”

Among them is Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of the House GOP leadership, who is receiving a primary challenge for her seat in 2022. Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a Republican, filed a statement of candidacy earlier this month.

“Wyoming was President Trump’s best state both times he ran. That’s because Wyoming voters are strong conservatives who want our leaders to stand up for America, defend our freedoms, fight for our way of life and always put working people first as President Trump did,” Bouchard said in a statement on Jan. 20.

“We’re going to see how much influence the president wants to exert going forward,” Lewandowski told Fox in his interview. “I don’t think anybody knows that yet.”

Polling shows that Trump remains very popular with Republicans, even as members of his party made critical comments following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter
Related Topics