UPDATE 8:20 p.m. ET:
In an interview with Bill O'Reilly Monday night Donald Trump discussed his decision to let campaign manager Corey Lewandowski go saying, "With Corey...I'm really proud of him. He did a great job, but we're going to go a little bit of a different route from this point forward."
UPDATE 4:40 p.m. ET: Michael Caputo, an adviser to the Trump campaign and head of communications for caucus operations, has also resigned. According to a report from CNN, Caputo stepped down after sending a tweet mocking the freshly fired Corey Lewandowski:
"I continue to believe Donald Trump must be elected President in November," Caputo said in a statement announcing his resignation.
See original story below.
Donald Trump just lost his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. The move was announced early Monday, just as the pressures surrounding Trump's transition into a general election standoff against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are starting to mount.
"The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign," Hope Hicks, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to the New York Times. "The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future."
Lewandowski proved a controversial figure in Trump's presidential race earlier this year, when he was hit with a misdemeanor simple battery charge for allegedly grabbing the arm of Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields during a campaign rally in March. Though authorities initially concluded that Fields did sustain a "grabbing-type injury," the charges were eventually dropped.
According to a separate report from the Associated Press, Lewandowski's exit from the campaign follows a "tumultuous stretch marked by missteps and infighting." The shift also comes as Trump faces scrutiny from within his own party, many of whom have expressed their concerns regarding the presumptive GOP nominee's consistently controversial remarks at campaign events and to the press.
Lewandowski spoke with CNN Monday morning, keeping relatively mum about his departure from the campaign while insisting that "things change" as the campaign evolves:
News of Lewandowski's departure hit Twitter with equal parts confusion and speculation, with many wondering if the move is a sign of even bigger changes to come:
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.
