Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale was hospitalized Sunday after reportedly barricading himself inside his Fort Lauderdale home with a gun.
Police were called after Parscale, 44, threatened to harm himself Sunday afternoon, Local 10 reports. It is understood his wife Candice made the 911 call.
The president announced in July he was replacing Parscale with longtime political aide Bill Stepien. Well-placed sources told DailyMail.com Sunday Parscale is under investigation for the theft of campaign funds.
Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Karen Dietrich told The Sun Sentinel: ‘We went out and it was very short. We went and got him help.’
It is understood Parscale has since been taken to Broward Health Medical Center under the Baker Act. That allows families to provide mental health services and temporary detention for people who are impaired because of their mental illness.
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told ABC News: ‘Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible.’
President Trump announced late July 15, 2020, that he was replacing Brad Parscale as his campaign manager with longtime political aide Bill Stepien
Police were called after Parscale threatened to harm himself Sunday afternoon
Trump and Parscale’s relationship had been increasingly strained, with the president annoyed by the publicity Parscale had garnered in the role.
But the final straw appeared to be a Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally last month that drew an unexpectedly low crowd of about 6,200 people after Parscale had bragged that more than a million people had requested tickets.
The president was said to be furious.
‘I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,’ Trump said on Facebook. ‘Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Advisor to the campaign.’
Parscale learned his fate on Wednesday when Trump announced a shakeup of his reelection campaign on Twitter, installing former number two, Bill Stepien, as his new campaign manager
Empty seats are visible in the upper level at a campaign rally for President Donald Trump at BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, June 20
Just a few days before the rally, Parscale boasted on Twitter: ‘Over 1M ticket requests for the @realDonaldTrump #MAGA Rally in Tulsa on Saturday’. The local fire department later said the total number of those at the rally was 6,200
Parscale, a political novice, ran Trump’s digital advertising in 2016 and was credited with helping bring about his surprise victory that year.
His replacement, Stepien, has been in politics for years, working for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and serving as Trump’s national field director in 2016.
The ousted Trump 2020 campaign manager retreated to his waterfront Florida home after being ditched, where he and his wife hosted friends for poolside drinks.
In pictures obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com Parscale ditched his trademark blue suit for cargo shorts, shades and a stars and stripes safari hat.
The ousted Trump 2020 campaign manager retreated to his waterfront Florida home after being ditched, where he and his wife hosted friends for poolside drinks
Parscale had been increasingly sidelined in the weeks before his removal.
Rather than parting ways completely, Parscale was retained in part because of the difficulty the campaign would have faced in rebuilding its digital advertising operation so close to the November 3 general election.
While the Republican National Committee owned most of the campaign’s data, voter modeling and outreach tools, Parscale ran most of the microtargeted online advertising that Trump aides believed were key in 2016.
Parscale’s digital advertising firm was among the campaign’s most significant vendors, and some in Trump’s orbit have alleged that the former campaign manager was profiting off the president’s reelection. Parscale has repeatedly denied the claims.