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onald Trump has fired his combative campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, nearly three months after he was charged with battery, reports The New York Times.

Lewandowski could not be reached for comment, reports The Times:

“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,” the campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said in a statement. “The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future.”

With the Republican National Convention looming next month, Mr. Trump is facing the task of broadening his team to include people with previous presidential campaign experience. Mr. Trump also has been turning his attention to fund-raising for the first time, a task that Mr. Lewandowski had assumed oversight of and one that has gone slowly for the campaign. The campaign has aired no ads in the general election and there has been no “super PAC” that received a clear public blessing from Mr. Trump and his top advisers.

The loss of Mr. Lewandowski was intended as part of a larger shift toward the final sprint of the race, according to those briefed on the matter.

Further, The Hill reports that Trump’s daughter also played a role in the dismissal:

Ivanka Trump was angry, CNN said, that Lewandowski had sought to plant negative stories about her husband, Jared Kushner, who is working on Trump’s transition team.

She told her father he had to choose between letting Lewandowski go or moving forward with the campaign without her, CNN said.

Lewandowski had been a lightning rod of controversy both from inside and outside the campaign. Most notably, he was charged with battery after he grabbed the arm of a former Breitbart News reporter as she was trying to ask Trump a question during a press conference in Florida.

Although the charges were eventually dropped against Lewandowski, Trump was convinced by his latest antics involving his son-in-law. What do you think about Trump’s decision? Sound off in the comments.

SOURCEThe New York TimesThe Hill | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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