As if attempting to appeal to African American voters with a deeply paternalistic speech in front of a lily-white Wisconsin crowd weren’t enough, it looks like Donald has hatched another desperate stunt to prop up his sinking campaign. Here is the news that just popped up on my Twitter feed:
x(1) Another big shake-up(2) Breitbart exec taking over. Not even joking... https://t.co/2TYTXOPhiA
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 17, 2016 xNEWS, first reported by @WSJ: Breitbart's Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway are now running the Trump campaign... Confirmed by WaPo
— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 17, 2016The story is not yet available on the Wall Street Journal site, but here are a few snippets from the story, which will appear on tomorrow’s front page:
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is bringing two new managers to the top of his campaign in a bid to recover ground he has lost in recent weeks.
Stephen Bannon, executive director of Breitbart News LLC, an outspoken Trump supporter and a former Goldman Sachs banker, will assume the new position of campaign chief executive. At the same time, Mr. Trump is also promoting Kellyanne Conway, a veteran GOP pollster and strategist, to become campaign manager.
According to the article, Manafort will stay on, although who knows how that will work. The move comes as an effort to “bulk up a structure that many Republicans have complained wasn’t adequate for the rigors of the general election campaign.”
“I want to win,” Mr. Trump said in an interview Tuesday night in which he disclosed his hires. “That’s why I’m bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win.”
xTrump is keeping on Manafort as chairman but wanted to bring on someone like Bannon who shares his populism & relishes combat
— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 17, 2016I guess bringing on the head honcho at Breitbart will solve all of Donald’s problems with women, people of color, young people and all of the other groups of Americans he has managed to totally alienate. Good job using your “good brain,” Donny!
Reporters and politicos on Twitter are reacting to the news with incredulity and ridicule, particularly in light of reports Trump has also hired disgraced ex-Fox chief Roger Ailes.
xTrump's next staff shakeup will be to put Newt and Alex Jones in charge
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 17, 2016 xConway and Bannon, @RealDonaldTrump? Because George Zimmerman and David Duke were unavailable?#JustGetAHood
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 17, 2016 xA person that runs Breitbart is about to reportedly run a major party's presidential campaign in a general election https://t.co/Rp8gvXiBCh
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) August 17, 2016I will add more information and a link to the WSJ story when it becomes available online. For now, I could only find this screenshot of the front page:
xNews in Wednesday’s WSJ: Trump layers over Paul Manafort in campaign overhaul pic.twitter.com/qWVVa9KkFR
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) August 17, 2016