The longtime operative President Trump
Donald John TrumpAmash confirms he will not seek re-election of Chicago’s mayor to the White House press secretary: ‘Hello, Karen. Look at Your Mouth ‘Pentagon Reflection Plan to Ban Confederate Flag Without Mentioning It by Name: MORE Report He has seized the opportunity to revive his dying campaign, has deep ties to leading Republican strategists and activists across the country, offering a measure of calm to a party that is increasingly concerned about Trump’s political prospects in November.
For months, Bill Stepien, 42, has played an increasingly visible role for the Trump campaign, representing the team in meetings with other Republican officials in Washington and taking more responsibility at his Arlington headquarters.
He regularly briefs Trump on the state of the race, offering a more candid and sober assessment of the obstacles Trump faces than others who paint a rosier portrait, sources familiar with the discussions said.
And unlike Trump’s now toppled campaign manager, Brad Parscale
Bradley (Brad) James ParscaleMOREStepien is not a public figure.
“Bill knows who the boss is, but I also think he is willing to tell the boss in the appropriate forum when he thinks the boss is making a mistake,” said former representative Tom Davis (R-Va.), Who was impressed by Stepien’s performance as political director of the White House. “His greatest attribute is that he knows what he does not know, so he is willing to ask questions.”
Stepien formally took the reins of Parscale at a meeting at the campaign headquarters in Arlington on Thursday morning, hours after Trump announced on Facebook that he would shake up his campaign.
Stepien cut his teeth in New Jersey’s tough world of politics, where he worked a series of Republican state and local campaigns between ice hockey and studies at Rutgers, where he was an American academic.
He led electoral participation programs on the Republican National Committee after working on President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. In 2008, he led field programs for the former mayor of New York City. Rudy Giuliani
Rudy GiulianiTrump’s new campaign manager establishes ties to the Republican establishment Expelled Manhattan prosecutor Geoffrey Berman to teach at Stanford Press: Trump’s latest presidential pardon: Himself MORE, alongside Jason Miller, now another Trump strategist, and for the senator. John McCain
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“He comes out of Bush, [Karl] Travel, [Ken] Mehlman’s disciplined approach to how campaigns are run, “said Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist who worked on many campaigns with Stepien over the years.” There is a high level of trust in Bill that has been earned in a couple of years. decades. “
After McCain’s loss, Stepien moved to New Jersey, where he led the Chris Christie (R) campaign for governor in 2009.
When Christie moved to Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Trenton, Stepien assumed an official role as his deputy chief of staff. In a state where the legislature was controlled by an overwhelming but fragile Democratic majority, Stepien became a critical intermediary.
“No one could do anything at the state house in New Jersey without consulting Bill,” said Lisa Miller, a New Jersey Republican strategist who has known Stepien for decades. “He was known for helping Democratic lawmakers here in New Jersey realign with Chris Christie. I knew how to bridge Christie with the Democrats. “
“He really had Chris Christie’s confidence more than anything,” said Miller.
But Stepien lost that confidence in 2014, after guiding Christie’s reelection bid. Christie turned Stepien into the scapegoat after the Bridgegate scandal, in which state officials closed lanes on a crowded bridge going to New York City to retaliate against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, who he had refused to back the governor for a second term.
Days after choosing Stepien as his choice to chair the Republican Party of New Jersey, Christie fired him and canceled his contract with the Association of Republican Governors, after emails showed that Stepien had contacted another official involved in the scandal.
The emails “made me lose confidence in Bill’s trial,” Christie said at the time.
Stepien was never accused of wrongdoing, and in the past he denied knowing what was happening. Three other Christie’s aides, including the official implicated in the scandal, were criminally charged. The Supreme Court overturned two of those convictions earlier this year, and a federal judge overturned a third.
Stepien did not respond to an interview request made through the Trump campaign.
After consulting about other projects, Stepien came to the Trump campaign, where he teamed up with another close aide who struggled with Christie, the president’s son-in-law. Jared Kushner
Jared Corey KushnerTrump’s new campaign manager establishes ties to Republican establishment The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Argentum – Mask mandates, restrictions issued as COVID-19 spreads Progressive group launches M pro-Biden ad purchase targeting young voters MORE. When Trump won, he brought Stepien to the White House as his first political director.
There, Stepien filled his West Wing office with the maps and charts that consumed him. While many Trump advisers had to take crash courses in modern Republican Party politics, Stepien impressed the candidates who came to inform him of their careers by learning as much about their districts or states as they did.
“He has always been one of the members of the Trump campaign team who was most connected to the Republican colony of strategists and consultants,” said Brad Todd, a Republican strategist who met Stepien frequently at the White House. “Bill has relationships with everyone involved in a Senate race or a governor’s race anywhere in the country, and that’s probably a pretty comprehensive requirement for that job in a cycle when participation suddenly seems to be a priority. very high”.
In a White House plagued by rivalries and stabbed in the back, Stepien kept his head down and made the most important ally he could: Trump himself.
Trump, sources said, routinely introduces Stepien as the only person who told him on the day of the 2016 election that Trump would win.
“I’ve heard the story at least 10 times,” said a Republican strategist close to the campaign.
Despite Trump’s optimism, Stepien takes over a campaign that has been engulfed in an avalanche of dismal and deteriorating survey numbers for months, as the coronavirus pandemic spreads virtually uncontrolled across the country and flourishes. unemployment charts. Four renowned national polls released Wednesday show Trump following former vice president Joe Biden
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Those same polls show Biden leading in virtually every battlefield state, and even running competitively in states that no Democrat has won in generations, such as Montana, Alaska, and Texas.
Those who know him say that Stepien is likely to lead a campaign that has focused primarily on defending Trump in a direction meant to focus attention on Biden.
“He will find out which sector of the electorate needs to know more about Joe Biden, and that is something the campaign needs to improve on,” DuHaime said. “You will probably see more aggressive or effective attempts to get Biden out, to draw him into the conversation more. Biden has been in an undisclosed location for a while. I’m not criticizing Biden’s campaign on that, it’s working. “
Stepien’s biggest challenge will be the same one that Trump’s four chiefs of staff have failed to conquer: keeping the chief constantly focused on bringing home a message designed to win back voters who are more skeptical of his personality, his performance, and his assembly management. crisis, instead of tweeting angrily to appease their base.
“You couldn’t find a more competent guy than Bill Stepien. He knows his venues, he knows the big picture, ”Davis said. “The real question is whether your candidate can stay on the message.”
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