A former Donald Trump adviser said the handling of Trump’s racially-based attacks against a federal judge was the straw that broke the camel’s back on Corey Lewandowski. | AP Photo Former Trump adviser: Lewandowski fired over 'Mexican' judge attacks

A former Donald Trump adviser said the handling of the presumptive GOP nominee’s racially-based attacks against a federal judge was the straw that broke the camel’s back on Corey Lewandowski’s troubled tenure as the real-estate mogul’s campaign manager.

Michael Caputo, who resigned from his role within the campaign Monday after celebrating Lewandowski’s ouster on Twitter, was asked Thursday if Trump’s allegations of bias against U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel over his Mexican heritage were a mistake. Caputo said the campaign botched its messaging on the issue, and Lewandowski wound up taking the fall.


“I think that we saw it just in the drop in the polls. We saw it in the lack of traction he was getting on his message,” Caputo said on Fox News Radio’s "Kilmeade and Friends," according to audio posted by BuzzFeed News.

“There was more subtlety involved in this judge and Trump University that you needed more of a paragraph,” he continued. “I think that there are a lot of lessons learned all around. I think the leadership change came out of that as well. And you’re gonna see a whole different campaign going forward.”