Ben Carson's campaign descends into turmoil as senior staffers abruptly resign
REUTERS/Mike Blake
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson's presidential campaign just lost some of its most senior campaign staff.
Carson's former communications director, Doug Watts, told Business Insider that both he and campaign manager Barry Bennett had left Carson's team on New Year's Eve.
"Barry Bennett and I have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately," Watts wrote in an email.
The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs further reported that Lisa Coen, a deputy campaign manager, also resigned Thursday.
Jacobs wrote that her sources said Watts and Bennett quit amid tensions with Carson's business manager, Armstrong Williams. Williams frequently acts as an official surrogate for the Republican candidate.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post's Robert Costa spoke with Bennett, who said his "frustration level has peaked with Dr. Carson's outside advisers."
"I expect lots of other people will resign today as well," Bennett told The Post. "The divide between the outside and inside is too deep."
Immediately after the news broke, the upper levels of the Carson campaign were left in apparent "chaos":
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/682613336354078720
CHAOS: I am on phone w/ Armstrong Williams as he gets the news. Carson calling him on other phone. "Doctor? Doctor, wait a second. What?"
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/682623592148893698
Barry Bennett to @washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/CR6N7YMVvj
The two high-profile resignations come despite a strong fundraising report that the Carson campaign announced Wednesday: a $23 million haul in the fourth quarter of 2015. Watts mentioned that report in his statement to Business Insider.
"We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status," Watts wrote while touting the numbers.
"We are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck," he added.
Carson surged in the Republican-primary polls at times this year and even challenged real-estate mogul Donald Trump's front-runner status in October, especially in Iowa. Carson's position has declined in recent weeks, however, amid questions about the candidate's foreign-policy knowledge and campaign infighting.
CNN reported a bit over two weeks ago that Carson's campaign was in "crisis" as Williams and the official campaign team were publicly criticizing each other for dragging down their candidate. At the time, Watts told Business Insider the campaign was not in "chaos."
REUTERS/Mike Blake
Carson said last week, however, that he planned to shake up his senior campaign staff, but he then appeared to backtrack. Costa reported that Carson got "cold feet" but that Bennett nevertheless felt "burned" by the incident.
"I spent the holidays hearing every day that I had lost my job," Bennett told The Post. "My relationship with Carson was always good and friendly but being campaign manager in that kind of situation, where outside advisers are in essence driving the campaign and setting up interviews and raising questions about everything, it's not the right atmosphere."
On Thursday afternoon, Carson released a statement thanking his former staffers and announcing that his new campaign chairman would be Bob Dees, a retired US Army major general, and that Ed Brookover would be promoted from senior adviser to campaign manager.
"As we enter a new phase of the campaign cycle, it is necessary to invigorate my campaign with a strategy that more aggressively shares my vision and world-view with the American people. I commend Barry Bennett and Doug Watts for their efforts to help me share my vision for America," Carson said.
The candidate continued: "Over a year ago, hundreds of thousands of Americans encouraged me to listen to the call and seek the office of president of the greatest nation the world has ever known. I am ready to be president and believe that my unique experience and background is what is needed to heal, inspire and revive America."
Additional reporting by Brett LoGiurato.
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