Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena, Sunday, July 17, in Cleveland. | AP Photo Manafort tweets for the first time since being ousted from Trump campaign

After months avoiding the spotlight, former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort broke his silence Friday, posting to Twitter that Trump’s path to the White House will be clear by Sunday.

“Battleground states moving to Trump en masse,” Manafort wrote on Twitter, his first post since Aug. 14. “Media not liking the pattern. By Sunday Trump will be over 270 in polls.”


Manafort resigned from his position with the Trump campaign Aug. 19, while he was under fire for a New York Times report that detailed secret ledgers discovered in Ukraine showing more than $12 million in payments earmarked for him by the political party of former Ukraine president and pro-Russia ally Viktor Yanukovych. He had also been strongly criticized for an underwhelming Republican National Convention that was marred by gaffes and which Manafort oversaw.

He was ostensibly replaced as the face of the campaign’s operation by Kellyanne Conway, the campaign manager who was hired two days before Manafort resigned. Conway was tasked with keeping Trump’s campaign on message and the candidate from generating any further controversy. While she’s been only partially successful at the latter, the Manhattan billionaire has narrowed Hillary Clinton’s polling advantage in recent days and has campaigned in traditionally blue states like Michigan and Pennsylvania that his camp believes could flip to the GOP nominee.