Ex-Trump campaign manager Parscale detained, hospitalized in Florida

Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Brad Parscale, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump's re-election bid, has been hospitalized in Florida after barricading himself in his home and threatening to harm himself, police said.

Authorities in Fort Lauderdale said officers responded to Parscale's home on Sunday after receiving an emergency call of an armed man threatening to harm himself.

At his home, Parscale's wife told police he had access to multiple firearms.

"It was indicated to me that he had weapons," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said.

Police eventually convinced Parscale to leave his house, after which he was detained on a mental health hold and taken to the hospital.

Parscale, 44, was demoted by the Trump campaign in July after a campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., drew only about 6,000 attendees. He was replaced with his deputy, Bill Stepien, but remained on the staff as a senior adviser.

"Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible," campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

Parscale was hailed by the campaign as a digital guru whose voter modeling and use of "mircotargeted" online advertising was credited as a key factor in Trump's election four years ago. He was originally hired by Trump's son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner.

Parscale attracted attention earlier this year when the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, ran a political ad targeting his "rich" lifestyle in Florida -- where the president is registered to vote and owns multiple luxury resorts.

CNN reported in August 2019 that a company owned by Parscale had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Trump's flagship political action committee, which is barred from coordinating with the campaign.