TETERBORO, N.J. – Republican Donald Trump is overhauling his campaign again, bringing in Breitbart News’ Stephen Bannon as campaign CEO and promoting pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.
The move comes just 82 days before the election and represents yet another shake-up for the tumultuous campaign.
Trump told The Associated Press in a phone interview early Wednesday that he has known both individulas for a long time. He says, “They’re terrific people, they’re winners, they’re champs, and we need to win it,” he said.
Tpinion surveys show Trump trailing his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton nationally and in key battleground states.
Trump says his campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will maintain his current role.
The development, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, came after a day in which Trump sent a Facebook message urging an end to bigotry and oppression.
Appearing for a speech Tuesday in Wisconsin, the billionaire real estate mogul accused rival Hillary Clinton of “bigotry” and being “against the police,” claiming that she and other Democrats have “betrayed the African American community” and pandered for votes.
“We reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, which panders to and talks down to communities of color and sees them only as votes – that’s all they care about,” the GOP nominee said in remarks delivered not far from Milwaukee – the latest city to be rocked by violence in the wake of a police shooting.
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.”
“The riots and destruction that have taken place in Milwaukee is an assault on the right of all citizens to live in security and to live in peace,” he said.
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. When people started saying he was temperamentally unfit, he called Hillary the same. When his ties to the Kremlin came under scrutiny, he absurdly claimed that Hillary was the one who was too close to Putin. Now he’s accusing her of bigoted remarks — We think the American people will know which candidate is guilty of the charge,” she said.