Corey Lewandowski, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2016 White House run, has been fired from One America News Network, according to a new report.
OANN, a pro-Trump cable channel positioning itself as an aspiring Fox News, let go of Lewandowski, now an informal adviser to the president, after he angered the network's leadership by frequently appearing on their competitors' channels, the Daily Beast reported Monday, citing three sources with knowledge of the situation.
Lewandowski angered OANN leadership with his frequent appearances on Fox and other competitors, which one former OANN employee described as "a big no-no" with the channel's leadership. Senior staff at the network knew it was likely that Lewandowski would do other network appearances, but things came to a head when it began to appear that Lewandowski was giving more attention to competitors than his employer.
Robert Herring, One America's chief executive, declined to comment directly on Lewandowski's status with the channel save to note that the one-time Trump campaign manager was spending an inordinate amount of time on-air with OANN's competitors. Asked directly if he had any reason to deny The Daily Beast's reporting, Herring replied: "I have none whatsoever."
Lewandowski joined OANN in January, shortly before Trump's inauguration, to provide political analysis and an insider's perspective on Team Trump. The network was a somewhat surprising choice. Launched in 2013, OANN has attempted to position itself as a mini-Fox News—running straight-news reports alongside sharply right-wing commentary. But as of 2015, the channel was available in just 15 million of 100 million available American homes.
OANN is most well known for helping launch the career of conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren, who has been an outspoken Trump supporter.
"We got a lot of help from [Corey] in the past, and he seems like very nice guy and very knowledgeable," Herring told the Daily Beast back in January. "You know, we're a growing network, and we saw a chance when he quit CNN and we just grabbed it."