Trump campaign team revamped
Hillary names White House transition team
AFP
Donald Trump announced yesterday he has again shaken up his senior campaign staff, appointing a conservative website executive and a pollster to head his team amid sinking poll numbers, while Hillary Clinton announced the formation of a transition team to handle power transfer if the Democratic candidate is elected to succeed President Barack Obama, reports AFP from Washington.
The Republican presidential nominee also announced that this week his campaign will launch TV ads for the first time. Trumps reluctance to buy TV spots has raised eyebrows as his unorthodox quest for the White House has run into trouble in recent weeks.
Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of the influential Breitbart News site, will serve as the campaigns chief executive, the Trump campaign said in a statement.
Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway, a longtime Republican pollster, will become campaign manager.
Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman who in recent days has come under scrutiny for his links to the pro-Russia former president of Ukraine, will remain in his current role.
I have known Steve and Kellyanne both for many years. They are extremely capable, highly qualified people who love to win and know how to win, Trump said in the statement.
I believe were adding some of the best talents in politics, with the experience and expertise needed to defeat Hillary Clinton in November and continue to share my message and vision to Make America Great Again.
Bannon will oversee campaign staff and operations and strategic oversight of major campaign initiatives, the statement said. Conway will focus on messaging, regularly travelling with Trump while also working closely with Manafort and Bannon, the statement said.
The campaign said the changes come amid what it called significant growth for the Trump candidacy, with the first major TV ad buy of the general election slated to start later this week and with additional top-flight operatives joining the movement on a near-daily basis.
Conway denied the staff changes constitute a shake-up. Its an expansion at a busy time in the final stretch of the campaign, she told The New York Times.
