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Donald Trump appoints Breitbart chief in shakeup that demotes Paul Manafort Donald Trump appoints Breitbart chief and demotes Paul Manafort
(35 minutes later)
Donald Trump has hired Breitbart News’s Stephen Bannon as CEO and promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager in a shakeup that represents a demotion for the Republican nominee’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Donald Trump has appointed Stephen Bannon from the rightwing website Breitbart News as CEO of his campaign team, effectively demoting Paul Manafort, as the Republican nominee attempts to gain ground on Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race.
The move comes just 82 days before the November election and represents yet another overhaul of the organisation in Trump’s tumultuous quest for the White House. Bannon is a former investment banker and the executive chairman of Breitbart News, which has shown full-throated support for Trump and was described by its former editor-at-large on his departure as “Trump’s personal Pravda”.
Trump said Bannon and Conway were “big people” who would help him defeat Hillary Clinton. “I’ve known both of them for a long time. They’re terrific people, they’re winners, they’re champs, and we need to win it,” he said. Meanwhile, pollster Kellyanne Conway has been promoted to campaign manager, in what represents yet another overhaul of Trump’s organisation in his quest for the White House.
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Bannon is a former investment banker and the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a conservative news and opinion website that has a largely positive perspective on Trump. Conway has acted as a senior adviser and pollster to Trump’s campaign. Manafort retains his title of campaign chairman but the shakeup represents a demotion for the lobbyist and political consultant who only formally took over the reins in June following the departure of Corey Lewandowski.
Manafort will maintain his current title, Trump said, but the shakeup nevertheless represents a demotion for the man who formally took the reins following the departure of Corey Lewandowski in June. Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates, who has been travelling with Trump, is expected to maintain a senior role. Trump told Associated Press that he had appointed Bannon and Conway because they were “big people” who would help him defeat Clinton.
The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as opinion surveys show Trump trailing Clinton nationally and in a host of key battleground states. “I’ve known both of them for a long time. They’re terrific people, they’re winners, they’re champs, and we need to win it,” said the billionaire real estate mogul.
Trump has long resisted pleas from fellow Republicans to overhaul the flame-throwing approach on the campaign trail that powered his surge to the top of the GOP field in the primary season. Instead of working to broaden his appeal, Trump has largely stuck to the large rallies and attention-grabbing comments that appealed to the Republican base. The changes, made just 82 days before the November election, give little indication that Trump is seeking to broaden his appeal and steer clear of controversy.
“You know, I am who I am,” he told a local Wisconsin television station on Tuesday. “It’s me. I don’t want to change. Everyone talks about, ‘Oh, well you’re going to pivot, you’re going to’. I don’t want to pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people.” In March, Breitbart News editor-at large Ben Shapiro launched a scathing attack on Bannon as he and reporter Michelle Fields resigned from the outlet following an alleged assault on the latter by Lewandowski.
Conway called the moves “an expansion at a critical time in the homestretch”. Trump’s then campaign manager allegedly grabbed Fields by the arm and pulled her away from Trump when she tried to ask him a question at a press conference, leaving her with bruises.
Details of the new pecking order were hashed out at a lengthy senior staff meeting at Trump Tower on Tuesday while the Republican nominee was on the road. Additional senior hires are expected in the next few days. Trump accused her of making up the allegations and Breitbart published a long post in which it said “it is unclear that contact has been made” on Fields in video clips of the incident.
As a result, Shapiro accused Bannon of having betrayed the legacy of the late Breitbart founder, Andrew Breitbart. “In my opinion, Steve Bannon … has sold out Andrew’s mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda,” he said.
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Trump, whose campaign is built on his persona as a winner, said several times that the campaign was doing well, and that his speech hours earlier in Wisconsin Tuesday had been well received. “We’re going to be doing something very dramatic,” he added. Breitbart News was an early embracer of partisan online journalism and its devoted followers laud it as exposing what they see as leftwing media bias. But to others it is representative of mean-spirited journalism that revels in personal attacks.
Trump’s campaign announced on Tuesday that it would finally begin airing its first ads of the general election next week in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Conway called the changes to the team “an expansion at a critical time in the home stretch”.
While polls have shown Clinton building a lead following the Philadelphia convention, Democrats are fearful that a depressed voter turnout might diminish support among the minority, young and female voters who powered Obama to two victories. Clinton said during a voter registration event at a Philadelphia high school that she was “not taking anybody anywhere for granted” in the race for the White House, saying the stakes “could not be higher”. Additional senior hires are expected in the next few days and there have been multiple reports – denied by Trump – that disgraced Fox News creator Roger Ailes has been brought in to help him face Clinton on the debate stage next month.
Ailes resigned last month from the network he co-founded and ran for 20 years, following allegations that he sexually harassed numerous subordinates, including former host Gretchen Carlson and star anchor Megyn Kelly.
Polls have shown Clinton building a lead following the Philadelphia convention, both nationally and in a host of key battleground states.
Trump’s campaign announced on Tuesday that it would finally begin airing its first adverts of the general election next week in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.