Brad Parscale, the former Trump campaign manager who was downgraded in July, claimed in an interview with Fox News Tuesday night that President Trump would have easily won the election if he had shown more empathy for the coronavirus pandemic.
“We lost suburban families,” said Parscale. “I think this has to do with one thing: Covid’s decision to open up the economy to public empathy.”
He added, “I think if he had been publicly empathetic he would have won.”
Mr. Parscale also appeared to be blaming those who managed to lead Mr. Trump’s campaign for failing to file complaints prior to election day. In fact, during the early voting period, the campaign filed multiple lawsuits to block changes to the mail-in voting rules.
“I wanted lawyers everywhere,” said Parscale. “Why didn’t they get in there early in the election days and file lawsuits? Why are we doing this?”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr. Parscale refused to admit that the president lost the election, claiming that Mr. Trump was “able to pull this off”.
Mr Parscale has been holding back since September when he was hospitalized after his wife Candice called the police and said he was in his home with guns and threatened to harm himself. According to a police report, Ms. Parscale also said her husband injured his arms during a “physical altercation”. She later declined the domestic abuse allegation.
Since that episode, captured on footage by police bodies, Mr. Parscale has claimed he wanted to return to a simpler, more private life where real estate is turned over. He’s told friends he wanted to leave politics. Current and former Trump officials on Tuesday interpreted Mr Parscale’s reappearance as an attempt to add value to a memory he is also trying to sell and ingratiate himself with the president.
Mr. Parscale said in a Fox interview that he had not spoken to Mr. Trump recently and that the break in their relationship was “quite hurtful”.
“I gave them every inch of my life,” he said of the Trump family. “Every inch.”
At another point in the interview, he claimed he was a “semi-quasi-campaign manager” alongside Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, during Mr. Trump’s successful 2016 campaign. In fact, Kellyanne Conway, a former White House official, was the president’s campaign manager four years ago.
“The worst thing we ever did was split up,” Parscale said of his relationship with Kushner, claiming that the president’s son-in-law was also “easily out of hand” after his demotion.
Mr Parscale first addressed the argument in September, suggesting strains in his marriage, but not addressing the abuse allegations. Martha MacCallum, the Fox News host who conducted the interview, didn’t ask him about it.
“We lost two children in the elections,” said Parscale, referring to the death of her twins in 2016. “We have been completely attacked by the left, the right and the media.” And I’ve come to a bad place. “
He said he and his wife had “never been happier,” adding, “I’m just glad I moved on.”