As more Democratic presidential candidates jump into the party’s Lord of the Flies–esque 2020 primary, Donald Trump is watching from the sidelines with a mix of glee and trepidation. “He loves the bloody nature and how ugly it will be,” a Republican close to the president told me. “He thinks they’re going to tear each other apart,” added a former White House official briefed on Trump’s thinking. But it’s the potential candidate who hasn’t declared that Trump fears. “Trump is very, very worried about [Joe] Biden getting in,” the former official said. “He sees him as the biggest threat because he can win Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.”

Whether or not Biden enters the race, Trump’s plunging poll numbers in the wake of the government shutdown have raised alarms in some corners of Trumpworld about the president’s re-election prospects. “It’s a shitshow,” a veteran of the 2016 campaign told me. The person who is drawing much of the blame is Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale. “There’s a revolt against Parscale,” said the former official.

According to sources, members of Trump’s 2016 team, including Corey Lewandowski and Dave Bossie, are privately lobbying Trump to replace Parscale. “Corey thinks there needs to be an intervention,” one Republican briefed on the conversations said. “Corey is saying Brad fucked up the midterms and he’s giving Trump terrible advice. Brad was telling Trump back in July that it would be fine if he lost the House. During the shutdown, he was telling Trump ‘you’re winning.’’’ On Monday, Parscale released a poll showing the shutdown didn’t hurt Trump’s re-election chances. “He keeps telling Trump he’s on a tear,” the Republican said. (Lewandowski and Bossie didn’t respond to requests for comment.)

Before his elevation, Parscale had been a Texas-based digital consultant with no experience in politics, who had worked on Web sites and digital-media strategy for the Trump Organization. Tapped to build a site for the incipient 2016 campaign, Parscale eventually became digital director, and was given significant credit for his client’s unexpected victory. He still retains powerful defenders inside and outside the White House, including Jared Kushner and the Trump children. “I am a huge fan,” Kellyanne Conway told me. “I am sure people think they should be campaign manager and are jealous of him. It’s easy to be jealous in Trumpworld when you are on the outside looking in.”

After this article was published, Brad Parscale responded in an e-mail. “One lesson I learned quickly in the swamp in Washington,” he wrote, “is that your biggest enemies are the members of the consulting class that are pushed out of the inner circle of presidential campaigns. We know all the bad actors who care more about their consulting fees than they do about the change Donald Trump continues to bring to Washington. They attack the administration and the Trump Campaign while acting like insiders who trade off of perceived access. None of this will get in the way of us building a world class team to reelect Donald Trump in 2020.”

Trump, so far, is directing his frustration with his slumping poll numbers at others in the West Wing. “Trump is blaming [Mick] Mulvaney for the bad press during the shutdown,” said the Republican close to the president. “He thinks Bill Shine hasn’t helped messaging, either.”

The West Wing is also girding for Robert Mueller’s next move in the wake of Roger Stone’s indictment. “Mueller is coming soon and his report will be a damning case of obstruction,” the Republican said. “It’s going to be very bad.”

The White House declined to comment.

This article has been updated to include a response from Brad Parscale.