Brad Parscale leaves Trump campaign after domestic violence allegations

Parscale had already been demoted from his role as campaign maanger.

By Emily Singer - October 01, 2020

Brad Parscale officially stepped away from his position with Donald Trump’s reelection campaign on Wednesday, after his wife accused Parscale of physical abuse and making suicidal threats, Politico reported.

“I am stepping away from my company and any role in the campaign for the immediate future to focus on my family and get help dealing with the overwhelming stress,” Parscale said in a statement provided to Politico. Parscale was involuntarily hospitalized after his wife reported to the police on Sunday that he was threatening to harm himself and he was in possession of weapons.

Parscale had already been demoted as Trump’s campaign manager in July, after a campaign rally in Oklahoma failed to meet the expectations for a massive crowd turnout. Parscale’s lavish spending as campaign manager also came under scrutiny, after Trump lost his once-massive fundraising advantage over Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

However, following the incident on Sunday — when Parscale was detained by police under a Florida law that “enables families and loved ones to provide emergency mental health services and temporary detention for people who are impaired because of their mental illness — Parscale has stepped back from the campaign altogether.

Police reports stated that Parscale’s wife, Candice, had told police Parscale was threatening to commit suicide and that he had hit her during a previous fight, according to Politico. The reports stated that police saw “larged sized contusions” on her body and that she attributed bruises she had to a “physical altercation” with Parscale.

However, on Wednesday, Candice Parscale denied that her husband physically abused her.

“The statements I made on Sunday have been misconstrued, let it be clear my husband was not violent towards me that day or any day prior,” she told Politico.

Until Wednesday, Parscale had been serving in a senior advisory role with the campaign.

The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday that Parscale was under investigation for stealing tens of millions of dollars from the Trump campaign, though no other major news outlets confirmed that report.

Immediately after the incident, the Trump campaign blamed Trump’s political opponents for Parscale’s suicidal threats.

“The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they’ve done to this man and his family,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said at the time.

However, that tone changed after the domestic violence allegations surfaced.

On Wednesday, Murtaugh told Politico that the Trump campaign “hope only for the best for Brad and his family.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Emily Singer