- Bill Stepien was named President Trump’s new campaign manager on Wednesday, replacing his former boss Brad Parscale.
- This change comes after the release of new poll numbers that show former Vice President Joe Biden at a doubtful lead over Trump.
- Stepien first entered the Trump campaign in 2016, two years after he was fired by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie amid the “Bridgegate” scandal.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
President Donald Trump rocked his campaign on Wednesday by ousting campaign manager Brad Parscale and replacing him with former Chris Christie aide Bill Stepien.
While Parscale was a longtime Trumpworld figure, he first started his career in politics after working for Eric Trump and then became a regular fixture at the protests, less is known about the more private political operative Stepien.
His rise to the top of the Trump campaign is a radical departure from his almost imploding career in 2014, when he was fired by Christie in the midst of the “Bridgegate” scandal.
Stepien replaces Brad Parscale, who had been a campaign manager since 2018.
Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
Garden State Principles
Stepien started out in politics in his home state of New Jersey. While attending Rutgers University in 1997, he volunteered for Anthony Bucco’s successful State Senate campaign.
According to The Washington Post, Stepien rose through the ranks of the Republican Party in the state thanks to his campaign effectiveness.
After graduating from Rutgers in 2000, he stepped up to the national level, working as New Hampshire’s political director in then-President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign.
He later worked in presidential campaigns for both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in the 2008 election cycle.
Perhaps his biggest breakthrough was when he was hired as campaign manager for Chris Christie when he first ran for the Governor of New Jersey in 2009.
The two men formed a strong relationship during the campaign. When Christie won the governorship, he brought in Stepien as his deputy chief of staff, according to the Post.
According to a 2017 political profile, Stepien was one of the few in Christie’s orbit to gain the Governor’s trust.
Bill Stepien is seen right in 2009, when he was working on Chris Christie’s career for governor of New Jersey.
Rider University / YouTube
Connection to ‘Bridgegate’
However, Stepien fell dramatically out of favor with Christie during the “Bridgegate” scandal.
The scandal involved members of Christie’s team who closed several lanes on the George Washington Bridge to create a traffic jam in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
The jam was retribution against the city’s Democratic mayor Mark Sokolich, who refused to endorse Christie.
Stepien was never charged in connection with the case, but his name was mentioned nearly 700 times in a subsequent trial, where prosecutors argued that he created a culture in Christie’s office that led to the scandal, NJ.com reported.
In the months leading up to the lane closures, Stepien had a relationship with one of the key figures, Bridget Kelly, who was also Christie’s deputy chief of staff. Many in the office did not know about the romance, according to Politico.
In her attempt to distance herself from “Bridgegate,” Christie fired Stepien in 2014, when emails were released showing Stepien calling Sokolich “an idiot.”
Announcing Stepien’s firing at a press conference, Christie said: “I was annoyed by the tone, demeanor and callous indifference shown in emails from my former campaign manager, Bill Stepien.”
“And reading that made me lose confidence in Bill’s judgment. And you can’t have someone at the top of your political operation that you don’t trust.”
Stepien dated Bridget Kelly, one of Bridgegate’s key figures, for several months before the scandal. She is photographed on the left leaving court in October 2016.
Eduardo Muñoz Álvarez / Getty
Drafted by Jared Kushner
While Stepien was expected to lead the Christie’s campaign for president in 2016, his firing left him in limbo in his career. But it wasn’t long before the Trump campaign arrived.
Stepien was brought into the Trump campaign in 2016 by Jared Kushner, who is from New Jersey and follows state policy there closely, according to Politico.
In 2016, Stepien worked as a national field director and was credited with helping the Trump campaign win the traditionally democratic states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
“I was looking forward to another opportunity to prove myself and be in a position to demonstrate my talent and work ethic and I am grateful that the President gave it to me last year,” Stepien told Politico in 2017.
Stepien was reportedly recruited for the 2016 Trump campaign by Jared Kushner, pictured above.
Win McNamee / Getty
Transition to the White House
After Trump was elected President, Stepien was hired to work in the White House as political director.
According to a 2017 political profile, Stepien was said to work 14 hours a day at the White House, focusing on winning Republicans to support the President’s agenda.
“He was born to be a political director,” a person who worked with him told Politico in 2017. “He is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the boss.”
However, after the midterm Republican losses in December 2018, Stepien left the White House to return to the Trump campaign as senior political adviser.
According to CBS News, Stepien was guilty of the midterm losses, even though he did not have much influence on Trump’s political decisions.
Move up the ranks as Trump falls in the polls
In May, Stepien was promoted to deputy campaign manager, working directly under Parscale.
The move was interpreted by some to mean that Kushner was aligning someone loyal to him in case Parscale needed to be replaced, according to CNN.
That jolt came on Wednesday, after weeks of bad publicity for the campaign, starting with low turnout at Trump’s return rally in Tulsa, until the launch on Wednesday of two polls showing former Vice President Joe Biden with an advantage. two-digit.
The New York Times reported that part of the reason Stepien replaced Parscale is because Stepien maintains a low profile.
In announcing the decision to replace Parscale with Stepien, the President said that both men “were very involved in our historic 2016 victory, and I look forward to a great and very important second victory together.”
Parscale remains on the campaign trail as chief adviser on digital and data strategies, Trump said.
Stepien is the fifth person to act as manager of the Trump campaign.
