Author Topic: Former Pro-Trump Operative Disavows GOP Frontrunner  (Read 2270 times)

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Offline sinkspur

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Former Pro-Trump Operative Disavows GOP Frontrunner
« on: March 24, 2016, 03:22:42 pm »
http://freebeacon.com/politics/former-pro-trump-operative-disavows-gop-frontrunner/

Former Pro-Trump Operative Disavows GOP Frontrunner

Top aide to defunct Super PAC: ‘I question his ability to be the leader of this country’


     
BY: Lachlan Markay    
March 24, 2016 10:50 am

A former senior aide to a pro-Donald Trump Super PAC disavowed the Republican frontrunner in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, citing what she sees as his rambling, divisive style on the campaign trail.

“I think he has gone too far with the vitriolic statements and lacks substance when it comes to policy,” said Stephanie Cegielski, the former spokeswoman for the pro-Trump Make America Great Again PAC.

Cegielski said she initially saw Trump as a positive political force, but that his statements and policy positions, or lack thereof, convinced her that he is unfit to be commander in chief.

“I am glad he has brought more people to the political process but I question his ability to be the leader of this country,” she said.

A public relations consultant and New York University instructor, Cegielski was brought on in June as the now-defunct Super PAC’s communications director. She now regularly takes to her Twitter account to attack Trump as unpresidential, narcissistic, and boorish.

“Best quote I heard from a Trump comms staffer—‘I thought Common Core was a class at Equinox,’” she quipped in one recent tweet. In another, aimed at Trump’s Twitter account, she asked, “Could you please stop mentioning your Christianity, you are making the rest of us look bad.”

The tone is a reversal from Cegielski’s views just months ago, when she thought Trump was a breath of fresh air.

“When I was with the Super PAC I had hope that he would could [sic] bring a fresh perspective to the political process,” she said. “Instead, he has brought disruption and an overinflated ego.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Cegielski’s remarks.

Make America Great Again PAC launched in June, helmed by Mike Ciletti, a Colorado Republican operative. The group received seed funding from longtime Trump associates and business partners, including $1 million from casino magnate and Trump Hotel Las Vegas investor Phil Ruffin and $100,000 from investor Andy Beal.

The Super PAC also got a $100,000 donation from Seryl Kushner, the wife of real estate investor and Democratic mega-donor Charles Kushner, who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to 18 federal criminal charges, including charges for illegal campaign contributions.

Then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, who has since endorsed Trump’s presidential bid, negotiated Kushner’s plea deal.

Make America Great Again PAC only operated for four months. During that period, it reported paying Cegielski’s communications firm $72,500. She was a consultant to the group, she explained, and operated as its chief spokesperson.

The group shut down in October, citing Trump’s disavowal of Super PACs supporting his campaign. At the time, it was also facing scrutiny over suspect collaboration with Trump’s campaign office.

Cegielski said she continued to support Trump after the group folded.

“I only started [opposing his candidacy] in the last few months, well after the Super PAC shutting down,” she said. “I still supported him for a time after the PAC but then came to my senses.”

Asked whether any of Trump’s specific statements or policy positions pushed her over the edge, Cegielski suggested that her concerns were more broad.

“As a communications person I am a strong advocate for sticking to your message,” she said. “The problem with his message is that it is all about his poll numbers, the losers of the world and his ability to do everything great.”

Cegielski’s distress at Trump’s seemingly inexorable political rise is evident. She has faulted Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, ineffectual anti-Trump political groups, and a Trump-obsessed news media for his continued political success.

As for who she supports now, Cegielski says the prospects are bleak. “Neither side has a candidate that I am comfortable supporting.”

“There isn’t even a lesser-of-the-two-evils candidate,” she said. “This election cycle is frightening.”
« Last Edit: March 24, 2016, 05:40:20 pm by AbaraXas »
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline ABX

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  • Words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
If you want to see something interesting about the Make America Great Again PAC, go to Trump's FEC filings under Expenses and look for payments to Wizbang Solutions- that is the company the founder of the MAG owns.

One could argue there is possible illegal coordination going on there.

Offline Rivergirl

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SSSHHHH...........don't tell Hannity.  He's busy French kissing the trumpet.

rangerrebew

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So we should continue to allow liberals to make America as great as it has become?

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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“There isn’t even a lesser-of-the-two-evils candidate,” she said. “This election cycle is frightening.”

That hits home for me.

Bill Cipher

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That hits home for me.

It's a close call but I still think Trump would be the lesser of two evils. 

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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It's a close call but I still think Trump would be the lesser of two evils.
I'd argue that whatever points Trump gets over Hitlery on policy, he loses for destroying the GOP.  This election is a nightmare come true.

Bill Cipher

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I'd argue that whatever points Trump gets over Hitlery on policy, he loses for destroying the GOP.  This election is a nightmare come true.

It is but, to paraphrase a supposed saying from Victorian England, close your eyes and think of the Supreme Court. If we have to, we hold it together until after November, when the denouement can finally take place.   

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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It is but, to paraphrase a supposed saying from Victorian England, close your eyes and think of the Supreme Court. If we have to, we hold it together until after November, when the denouement can finally take place.
Yes.  There is that, but I have little confidence that Trump will pick wisely, and I fear we may lose the Senate in 2016.

Bill Cipher

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Yes.  There is that, but I have little confidence that Trump will pick wisely, and I fear we may lose the Senate in 2016.

The crucial part is keeping control of the senate, and it's annoying that so far I have seen precious little material posted about those races. 

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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The crucial part is keeping control of the senate, and it's annoying that so far I have seen precious little material posted about those races.
OMG.  You're right.  It is almost April and almost no one is paying attention to the down ballot races.  I too have been consumed with the Presidential race.

Offline Frank Cannon

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So we should continue to allow liberals to make America as great as it has become?

Nope. That's why we all need to stop open Leftist Rat Progressives like Trump from taking over the party and country.

Offline Sanguine

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Yes.  There is that, but I have little confidence that Trump will pick wisely, and I fear we may lose the Senate in 2016.

I don't expect that Trump would chose wisely, but perhaps without the venomous intent of HRC.