Corey Lewandowski stood near a microphone, ready to announce New Hampshire’s vote count before the full GOP convention, when a Virginia delegate clapped him on the shoulder.
“This is your night,” he told Lewandowski.
All eyes were on Lewandowski on Tuesday when he read the state’s divided delegate count.
Appearing to choke back his emotions, the New Hampshire political operative proclaimed that 11 votes, including his, would go to “my friend and the next president of United States, Donald J. Trump.”
Many Trump supporters in New Hampshire credit Lewandowski, who had no prior national campaign experience, with the businessman’s rise from improbable candidate to GOP presidential nominee.
“Corey’s leadership made a big difference,” state Rep. Al Baldasaro said.
But as Trump neared the national convention, Lewandowski was fired as Trump’s campaign manager this spring, amid campaign infighting and after accusations that the Windham man forcibly grabbed a female reporter.
He continues to be a lightning rod for the campaign. Now a paid CNN political contributor, Lewandowski said Tuesday he will continue doing anything he “can do to make sure Donald Trump is president.”
But earlier in the day, Lewandowski stirred controversy for the campaign when he said the author of Melania Trump’s speech – which matched Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech in certain sections – should be “made accountable and fired.” Specifically naming Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, he said the man should be let go if he were the last person to review the speech.
“If the campaign couldn’t find the person accountable for the mistake, and if it were me, I would resign,” he said Tuesday. “I am saying what I would do, that’s all.”
The statement put Lewandowski at odds with some members of the New Hampshire delegation, which he chairs.
“I do not agree with it,” said Steve Stepanek, a Trump backer and delegate, who worked side-by-side with Lewandowski in New Hampshire before the primary. Stepanek said the latest statements can be traced to Lewandowski’s experience with the campaign.
“Corey was held responsible, right or wrong, and fired,” Stepanek said. “And he’s holding everyone to the same standard he was.”
Despite his status as a New Hampshire delegate, Lewandowski has been an elusive figure at the group’s events. He hasn’t attended delegation breakfasts and is staying at a different hotel.
Some delegates had said prior to the convention that they had never spoken to him.
But most agree that Lewandowski has been critical. He helped deliver Trump his first win in the New Hampshire primary, where the businessman trounced his Republican rivals, getting a boost that propelled his campaign forward.
Lewandowski did join the delegation on the floor Tuesday night, when Trump officially became the party nominee.
“I just want to be able to enjoy it,” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s something that nobody would have thought possible a year ago.”
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307, amorris@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @amorrisNH.)