The moves signal that Trump plans to embrace his populist, outsider persona in the campaign’s final stretch rather than moderate and extend a hand to more traditional Republicans.
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Trump made senior advisor Kellyanne Conway his campaign manager, and Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon has been brought on as the campaign’s chief executive, the New York Times reported citing Conway.
The campaign’s announcement quotes Trump as saying he was “committed to doing whatever it takes to win” the election on November 8.
“I’ve known both of them for a long time“, Trump said early Wednesday. “They’re terrific people, they’re winners, they’re champs and we need to win”.
Opinion surveys show Trump trailing his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton nationally and in key battleground states.
Trump, who parted with former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski just two months ago, said in a statement that Paul Manafort, who was unofficially filling the role of campaign manager since Lewandowski’s departure, will maintain his current title and work closely with Conway and Bannon on the campaign moving forward.
The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Conway is said to be well liked by Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
And the decision also follows a slew of self-inflicted wounds since the Democratic National Convention wrapped, with Trump exchanging barbs with the parents of a slain USA soldier, reigniting intra-party tensions by initially declining to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan in his reelection bid and ultimately suggesting that “Second Amendment people” could act to keep Clinton from appointing liberal Supreme Court justices should she become president.
Mr Bannon has no experience with political campaigns, but he represents the type of bare-knuckled fighter that the candidate had in Corey Lewandowski, his combative former campaign manager, who was sacked on June 20.
Bannon, a former Navy officer and Goldman Sachs investment banker, has been a conservative media executive for years. It’s me. I don’t want to change.
“I’m not going to lie, I cried uncontrollably”.
Conway has experience with primary elections and is highly valued by Ivanka Trump, the candidate’s daughter, but has never worked as a campaign manager.
The campaign shakeup, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as polls show Trump trailing Clinton nationally and in key battleground states following a hard campaign stretch that saw him insulting the Muslim parents of a soldier who died in Iraq and temporarily refraining from endorsing House Speaker Paul Ryan in his primary race. “I think it’s about management and making sure you have the right number of people in place to manage an organization that has grown dramatically”. Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Philadelphia on Tuesday, her second appearance in as many days in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
According to results of an NBC News/Survey Monkey weekly poll released Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is leading Trump by nine points. “If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people”.
Trump, who is lagging behind in the polls, accused Clinton of being on the side of the rioters, declaring: “Our opponent Hillary would rather protect the offender than the victim”.
Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri responded with a statement early Wednesday accusing Trump of being the bigot instead.
“With each passing Trump attack, it becomes clearer that his strategy is just to say about Hillary Clinton what’s true of himself”.
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“I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways”, Fields said after resigning.
