Meet Brad Parscale, Trump's Newly Announced 2020 Campaign Manager

President Donald Trump has reportedly selected Brad Parscale as the manager of his 2020 reelection campaign. Here’s an overview of Parscale’s background and what he brings to the position. 

Who Is He?

Parscale served as the digital director of the 2016 Trump campaign — one that generated a significant amount of support from its social media efforts. Parscale has been credited with running efficient ad campaigns on Facebook, Inc FB and taking advantage of Facebook’s policy of promoting ads with the highest engagement levels.

The Trump campaign recognized that more polarizing ads generate higher engagement levels, according to The Verge. 

One senior Facebook employee said the strategy resulted in an average effective cost per 1,000 impressions of 6 cents for Trump campaign ads compared to $1.06 for Hillary Clinton campaign ads.

“I think we used [social media] better than anyone ever had in history,” Parscale said of the 2016 campaign in an interview with Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes." 

What’s His Experience?

Prior to working on the Trump campaign, Parscale ran a design, digital media, website and marketing firm, Giles-Parscale. Parscale also co-founded TechBloc, an organization to promote technology and attract professionals in the field. 

Starting in 2011, Parscale worked for the Trump Organization, serving as a website developer and design and digital media strategist. Parscale provided digital media services for Trump Winery, Trump International Realty and the Eric Trump Foundation. Giles-Parscale reportedly earned a total of $94 million throughout the 2016 election cycle.

In addition to his prowess in digital advertising and marketing, Parscale is credited with making some critical strategic decisions in the 2016 campaign, including recognizing that Virgina and Ohio voters were not being swayed and re-allocating campaign resources to Michigan and Wisconsin in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Trump ended up pulling off a victory in Ohio, but his success in Wisconsin and Michigan came as a surprise to Democrats and many media outlets.

What’s Next?

Parscale told Stahl that he would never want a foreign entity to influence a U.S. election, and said in the "60 Minutes" interview that he is disappointed that Facebook has said Russians spent at least $100,000 on Facebook campaign ads in 2016.

Before any 2020 plans can be solidified for the Trump campaign, Americans will likely want to see the results of Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. 

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Photo from Wikimedia.