The latest NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll showed Clinton leading Trump by 9 points, 50 percent to 41 percent.
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The billionaire real estate mogul is bringing in Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News as chief executive officer and promoting pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.
The announcement of the campaign restructure comes at a time of increased strain within the Trump’s campaign staff as well. Paul Manafort, Trump’s controversial campaign chairman, will retain his title, but it is unclear if his role will change. And it sent a signal, perhaps more clear than ever, that the real-estate mogul intends to finish this race on his own terms, with friends who share his instincts at his side.
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has shaken up his campaign staff amid sliding poll numbers and signs of disarray, US media reported early on Wednesday. Trump’s children reportedly believed Lewandowski was spreading negative stories about Kushner, and sources told the Times that they would try to prevent him from rejoining theteam. Manafort took the reins in June after Trump fired former chairman Corey Lewandowski after missteps such as Lewandowski’s being charged with battery over an altercation with protesters at a rally. Although new to presidential campaigns, Bannon is set “to bolster the business-like approach of Mr. Trump’s campaign”, Trump’s camp said in a statement.
Wednesday’s leadership makeover isn’t the first for the Trump campaign.
An article in Bloomberg in October previous year described Mr Bannon as “the most risky political operative in America” – a phrase Mr Trump’s own website was happy to repeat in announcing his appointment.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the staffing changes, said Manafort will stay on, though his power will clearly be diminished.
According to the Washington Post, the “calmness” Conway brings stems from her ability to treat Trump like a child and to avoid commanding or insulting him.
Breitbart has always been among the friendliest news outlets to Trump, an attitude that has been reciprocated by the candidate himself.
They’re more than willing to let Trump go down his self-destructive path but they don’t want to see that debacle hurt the GOP Congressional races. Mercer, the daughter of hedge-fund titan Robert Mercer, spoke highly of him.
She added: “There is no new Donald Trump, this is it”. He connected with his son-in-law and trusted adviser Jared Kushner, who has been on vacation in Europe.
Earlier this year, Bannon and Breitbart News were faced with a situation when Lewandowski was accused of shoving reporter Michelle Fields to the ground. The staffing moves come just days after the New York Times published an investigative report into his dealings in Ukraine, where he served as an adviser to the former president.
It has also advocated for Trump’s populist, nationalist policy positions.
Bannon quickly began to prepare for a takeover. He was spotted at Trump Tower on Monday and worked there Tuesday though he did not travel with Trump.
“The campaign wants to prove to the Clinton people that they’re going to take this fight directly to her”, he noted. The change, hammered out over the weekend at Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, reflects an effort by Trump to right his campaign, as Republican groups mull writing off his White House effort to save the Senate and vulnerable House seats.
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But Bannon’s position could make any attempt to smooth relations in Washington hard. There were some former staffers, like Schachtel, have come out against Bannon publicly over the shift in Breitbart’s editorial content about the Republican nominee.
