Eric Trump said Paul Manafort didn't want to be a distraction. | Getty Trump didn't want 'distraction' from Manafort, son says

Donald Trump did not want the prospect of a constant deluge of negative stories about Paul Manafort hanging over his campaign, his son Eric Trump said Friday.

"I think my father didn't want to be, you know, distracted by, you know, whatever things Paul was dealing with," Trump told Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."


While calling Manafort "amazing" and lauding his efforts that "helped us get through the primary process" with organizing delegates and the Republican National Convention, Eric Trump offered specific praise for new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway "and some of the other people that we're bringing in and they're absolutely fantastic and I think they're going to be the ones that bring us all the way through November 8th and ultimately get us the victory."

"But again, my father just didn't want to have the distraction looming over the campaign and quite frankly looming over all the issues that Hillary's facing right now," Trump added.

The GOP nominee announced Friday morning that he had accepted Manafort's offer to resign, following a week of damaging reports about his dealings with the pro-Russian government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.