Campaign Manager Says That With Trump, ‘You Just Sort of Take the Good With the Bad’

In a recent Politico interview, Susie Wiles, the senior advisor and virtually the campaign manager for Donald Trump, was blunt in her statements about the man she had chosen to support. As mentioned by Mediate, one of the main topics addressed in the Politico profile was the mystery around how the otherwise mild-natured Wiles, who was supposed to be closer to the Republican establishment, could align herself with Trump. The conversation drifted to the events of 6th January — the day the Capitol was stormed, making the nation shiver. Journalist Michael Kruse kept asking Wiles to explain what kept her from ending her professional ties with Trump after such a big event.

To Wiles, it was clear that while she didn't agree with what had happened, she also believed that Trump wasn't the sole person responsible for the events. Wiles admitted that she 'didn’t love it' but insisted that she 'didn’t think he [Trump] caused it.' “I sort of think, maybe naively, that if everybody knew what I knew — what I know — they wouldn’t feel as some do about Donald Trump. Does that mean I think he’s perfect? There are certainly things I would do and say differently — absolutely,” said Wiles. “But people don’t know what I know.”

“You can’t get the Trump policies without the Trump personality. That’s not original — that comes from Lindsey Graham — but I believe it completely. And so you just sort of take the good with the bad with everybody,” she continued. Wiles also noted parallels between her famous father, Pat Summerall—who battled alcoholism and allegedly did not pay much heed to his children—and her client. “They would on paper seem dissimilar, but they just not that dissimilar.” Such a statement shows that it is hard to take Trump's style apart from his politics. 

Coming to Wiles, top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Kruse, "There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody. She touches everything." Speaking about her own career, Wiles said, "I have been fortunate, several times in my professional life, to work for leaders with a big personality and a strong brand, who are relentlessly driven to pursue their goals." 

One Florida associate saw Wiles as an interesting match for Trump, having already been acquainted with her father, who he perceived as training the girl to handle both famous and capricious men. Wiles' gift of knowing when and when not to dip into the situation has placed her in good standing among her colleagues. “Susie’s primary qualification for handling Donald Trump is her training in handling her father. She is an expert in unstable, dysfunctional, famous men... She knows when she can help, and she knows when not to try to help, and for that they’re grateful.”