President Donald Trump has named Brad Parscale, who previously served as the Trump campaign’s digital director, as his 2020 campaign manager.
The announcement comes as the president has said he is ready to dive into campaigning during the 2018 midterms for Republican candidates across the country. On the day of his inauguration, Trump filed paperwork with the Federal Election Committee indicating a possible re-election bid in 2020, Tuesday’s move seeks to formalize his intentions to run again.
Parscale, joined the Trump campaign as a key player, as the campaign was expanding its digital operations with specific attention to advertising on social media.
"I think we used it better than anyone ever had in history," Parscale said of the campaign's use of social media usage in an interview last year with CBS News’ “60 Minutes”.
As Parscale told 60 Minutes, the amount of money he started earning with the campaign and the amount he ended with are two polar extremes – he built the campaign’s website for just $1500 and, by the end of the 2016 race, his company was paid $94 million including the money spent on digital advertising.
After the 2016 campaign ended, Parscale joined America First, the Super PAC endorsed by the President that works to support his agenda outside the White House, as a senior adviser.
The Texas based digital guru has also done work on behalf of the Republican National Committee.
Just last month, for January 2018, the RNC shelled out more than $882,000 to Parscale Strategy LLC according to FEC filings.
Trump’s reelection campaign has been open for business for months and is based out of Trump Tower in Manhattan. He has been holding rallies for over a year now paid for by his reelection campaign.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters in June that “of course he’s running for re-election.”
His children have been activiely involved in his re-election campaign, specifically Donald Trump Jr, along with Eric Trump and his wife Lara.
“Brad is an amazing talent and was pivotal to our success in 2016,” Eric Trump said in a statement. “He has our family’s complete trust and is the perfect person to be at the helm of the campaign.”
President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner released a statement saying Parscale’s new role will be essential to running a “best in class” campaign.
“Brad was essential in bringing a disciplined technology and data-driven approach to how the 2016 campaign was run. His leadership and expertise will help build a best-in-class campaign.”