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:
The 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.”
I 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.
I 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:
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016 · 7:37:54 AM +00:00
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kat68
Thanks, MTmofo for finding some additional reporting on this story. It looks like this shake up was entirely Trump’s idea and that he intends to do it his way from now on. Prepare for a full-on freakshow:
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2016 · 7:46:13 AM +00:00
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kat68
One more Costa tweet:
And since I have to turn in for the night, here is a link to the NYT write-up of this whole mess: www.nytimes.com/…
Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman, will retain his title. But the staffing change, hammered out on Sunday and set to be formally announced Wednesday morning, represents a demotion for Mr. Manafort, who took control of the campaign nearly two months after Mr. Trump won the primary in Indiana, forcing the remaining two candidates from the race.
The news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was confirmed by four people in and close to the Trump campaign.
The people briefed on the move said that it reflects Mr. Trump’s realization that his campaign was at a crisis point. But it indicates that the candidate, who has chafed at making the types of changes his current aides have asked for even though he has acknowledged they would need to be made, has decided to embrace his aggressive style for the duration of the race.