NEW: Brad Parscale is back again in Trump's orbit. The former 2020 campaign manager hated by the ex-president is building his post-White House digital operation. businessinsider.com/brad-parscale-… by @tomlobianco ($) in @businessinsider
The man behind Donald Trump's post-presidential communication operation is someone he hates and says stole his money: Brad Parscale.
It's the latest slap-dash ironic twist to come amid the Trump's chaotic departure from the most powerful job on Earth. Parscale got demoted last summer as leader of the '20 reelection effort amid sagging poll numbers & bad publicity surrounding his extravagant spending habits.
But Trump family members helping launch the post-WH office realized they needed Parscale after it became clear Trump was on the verge of losing access to campaign & official WH digital infrastructure used to spread their MAGA message, per 3 Rs familiar w/ the arrangement.
"They didn't realize what they had gotten into," said 1 of the Rs who knows about Parscale's return. "They said 'You're fired. Ok, great, see you later.' Then asked, 'Who's running the email?' 'The guy you just fired.' 'How do we fix that?' You gotta go back to that guy."
Parscale is responsible for the emails blasted out in recent days with public statements and Trump's legal briefs for his Senate impeachment trial, the GOP sources said.
Parscale also built the bare-bones, link-free website 45office.com that includes a black-and-white logo with a bald eagle surrounded by an all-caps "THE OFFICE OF DONALD J. TRUMP."
Republicans familiar w/ the latest Trump-Parscale partnership said it has an obvious benefit for a former president who has been permanently banned from popular social media networks like Twitter and Facebook.
It also helps Trump because he no longer can rely on many of the official trappings that come with living and working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Still, Parscale's return appears to be an embarrassing development that few in Trumpworld want to talk about. It's even one that Trump himself might not know about, according to the Republicans familiar with the arrangement.
Parscale seemed to hint at his return to the former president's innermost circle in a tweet sent over the weekend. "Question to the world. Did I give my phone to Trump to tweet?" Parscale tweeted this past Saturday.
In a series of exchanges with Insider this week, Parscale is now offering another interpretation of where he stands in Trump's orbit. He said he never left the president's orbit and dismissed questions about the drama around his return.
"Ok. And?" he wrote in a text message on Tuesday. He later said in another text that his tweet about giving his phone to the president was meant to be a joke.
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