“Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people”.
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Bannon formerly worked for the conservative news website Breitbart News.
Conway said her rise to campaign manager showed Trump valued a more policy-driven approach that would appeal to women and independent voters.
The news comes after Trump, who has been sliding in polls with less than three months until Election Day, announced a major shakeup in his campaign.
The Journal reports that Bannon will take a leave of absence from Breitbart to work on the campaign. “And I think Paul Manafort as chairman and Rick Gates as deputy have done a phenomenal job in building out this campaign over the last maybe five or six months to put it in a place that’s competitive going into the fall”. And it sent a signal, perhaps more clearly than ever, that the real-estate magnate intends to finish this race on his own terms, with friends who share his instincts at his side.
The statement from Trump’s campaign in full is: “This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign”. Moving forward, he plans to focus intensely on rousing his voters at rallies and through media appearances.
It offers Trump’s team a chance to return to the “let Trump be Trump” style practiced by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski that helped Trump, who has never held elective office, win the Republican presidential nomination for the November 8 election. Lewandowski’s mantra was “let Trump be Trump” and Trump wants to get back to that type of campaign culture, the aides said.
Mr Bannon is a former Goldman Sachs banker and does not bring presidential campaign experience to Mr Trump’s White House bid.
“You know, I am who I am”, he told a local Wisconsin television station Tuesday. “That’s why I’m bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win”.
Manafort retains his title, but two conservative strategists are being installed in top spots.
It is perhaps best described as a “pro-Trump” media company. In recent days, he has been more scripted on the campaign trail following weeks of controversy the GOP nominee has inflicted on his campaign with off-the-cuff statements since the end of the political conventions. “But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets and changes his tune altogether”, she said.
Bannon’s name soon came up. Then he called Conway and Bannon, ruminating aloud on how they could help him jolt his stalled candidacy.
In addition to her polling work, Conway was the president of Keep the Promise I, one of a constellation of super PACs that supported Cruz’s presidential campaign.
Conway confirmed the moves to The New York Times, but denied they constituted a shake-up.
Pollster Kellyanne Conway, who has known Trump for years and gained his trust during her brief tenure working for the businessman, will serve as campaign manager.
And Bannon has been involved with the site ever since it began in 2007.
“Trump Echoes Breitbart: Battle with Islam ‘Like The Cold War, ‘” read one headline earlier this week.
“Donald J. Trump went Thursday night where Donald J. Trump, the candidate, seemed to have never gone before: He expressed broad regret about some of his caustic language during the campaign”.
But Bannon’s position could make any attempt to smooth relations in Washington hard.
Another headache for Manafort: the continued hovering presence of Lewandowski, now a CNN commentator, who remains a confidant of Trump.
After warring behind the scenes for months with Lewandowski, who had little regard for Manafort, Lewandoswki was sacked earlier this summer.
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“Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing”, Trump told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s me. I don’t want to change.
