Trump Campaign Hires Breitbart News Executive Stephen Bannon As Its Campaign Chief Executive

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Campaign Hires Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen Bannon And GOP Pollster Kellyanne Conway To Manage Campaign. The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump hired Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon and GOP pollster and political commentator Kellyanne Conway to lead his campaign. The Journal reported that Bannon’s hire is “likely to stir its own controversy” because Bannon leads a “freewheeling populist news site” that caters to Trump supporters. According to the August 17 article, Bannon will take a leave of absence from his Breitbart News position:

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 chairman 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 also is promoting Kellyanne Conway, a veteran GOP pollster and strategist, to become campaign manager. Ms. Conway has been a campaign adviser for several weeks.

[...]

The appointment of Mr. Bannon is likely to stir its own controversy. Breitbart News, which he runs, is a freewheeling populist news site that has served as a kind of platform for Trump supporters. He has, among other things, helped produce a movie about the personal wealth of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Trump has known Mr. Bannon, a former Naval officer, for years. Mr. Bannon will take a leave of absence from Breitbart. [The Wall Street Journal, 8/17/16]

Breitbart News Has Repeatedly Attacked Establishment Republicans

Paul Ryan

Breitbart News: “Paul Ryan Running Scared in Final Days Ahead of Primary Election.” Breitbart News claimed that Paul Ryan was “terrified” of his upcoming primary race because his “policy record is collapsing among voters.” The article claimed “Ryan is reeling right now” in his campaign and claimed Ryan is “a champion of open borders.” [Breitbart News, 8/4/16]

Breitbart News: “Paul Ryan Flees Grieving Moms Trying To Show Him Photos Of Their Children Killed By His Open Borders Agenda.” Breitbart News accused Ryan of having “fled from his guarded estate” from American mothers who “attempted to present Ryan with photos of their murdered children, and show him the true cost of his open borders agenda.” The article claimed that Ryan’s “radical position” on immigration made these mothers believe that Ryan is “disqualified from serving in Congress.’” [Breitbart News, 7/25/16]

Breitbart News: “Desperate Paul Ryan Floods Wisconsin With Misleading Television Ads” Breitbart News claimed in an article that, “contrary to what Ryan suggested in his new television ad” for his primary campaign, he “failed to advance a strategy that would keep radical Islamic migrants from entering the United States.” Breitbart News noted Ryan’s opposition to Trump’s “proposal to temporarily pause Muslim migration” and claimed, “Given Ryan’s long history of pushing open borders immigration policies, it is perhaps not surprising that Ryan’s response following the terror attacks was to expand Islamic migration.” [Breitbart News, 7/19/16]

Breitbart News: “Paul Ryan Says U.S. Must Admit Muslim Migrants, Sends Kids to Private School that Screens Them Out.” Breitbart News blasted Ryan’s opposition Trump’s “religious test,” while he “chooses to insulate his children in an academic environment that considers religion in its admissions process.” The article claimed Ryan was supporting “open borders policies for America, while giving his family the protections he denies the American public.” [Breitbart News, 5/9/16]

Breitbart News: “Paul Ryan Builds Border Fence Around His Mansion, Doesn’t Fund Border Fence in Omnibus” Breitbart News criticized Ryan for a “two-decade-long history of promoting open borders immigration policies” while “support[ing] border fences for himself, even as he denies the American people those same protections.” The article accused Ryan of a double standard, as his “ omnibus spending bill does not provide funding for the mandatory completion of a 700-mile double-layer border fence” and yet his own home “is surrounded by a tall border fence.” [Breitbart News, 12/17/15] 

John McCain

Breitbart News Accused McCain Of “Fund[ing] Afghan Immigration With Veterans’ Paychecks.” Breitbart News claimed McCain was supporting “a visa program for Afghani interpreters” “that’s funded by imposing higher costs on U.S. military veteran’s health care costs.” The article cited a NumbersUSA press release that criticizes the bill for “‘treating U.S. immigration policy like a Christmas tree they can simply add more baubles to’” because “‘Americans have to pay for each of those baubles.’” [Breitbart News, 6/7/16]

Breitbart News: McCain “Knows Absolutely Nothing About The American Constitution.” Breitbart News in an article rebuked McCain for blastingTrump’s criticism of Fox News host Megyn Kelly, claiming Trump has a “God-given right to not appear at a debate that Fox News was undoubtedly rigging to sink him.” The article accused McCain of being “dishonest[]” and being “insulated from the Real World,” and praised Trump for not “tak[ing] advice from those who lose presidential elections.” [Breitbart News, 1/28/16]

Lindsey Graham

Breitbart News: Lindsey Graham Is “Everything Voters Have Come To Despise About The GOP Establishment.” Breitbart News criticized Lindsey Graham for saying Republicans may have to support Ted Cruz in his then-primary race against Trump , claiming Graham is “Everything voters have come to despise about the GOP Establishment.” The article called Graham “a glittering example of the very same ‘loser’ mentality Trump attacks so effectively” and a “reptilian opportunist.” [Breitbart News, 3/2/16]

Breitbart News: Graham Dropping Out Of Presidential Race “A Warning” For Anyone Who Supports “Amnesty For Illegal Aliens.” Breitbart News reported Graham’s decision to suspend his presidential campaign “after failing to gain any traction or gain any support -- even in his home state of South Carolina” was “a warning to any politicians that [take] viewpoints like [Graham’s] in support of amnesty for illegal aliens.” [Breitbart News, 12/21/15]

Mitch McConnell

Breitbart News: McConnell Is “Acting More Like A Democrat Than A Republican.” Breitbart News in an article denounced Mitch McConnell for engaging in “an unprecedented effort to duck accountability for [his] votes” on the Iran nuclear deal and Planned Parenthood funding. The article quoted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesperson and claimed the spokesperson was pointing to McConnell’s “fecklessness and inability to solve problems within his own party” and that McConnell was “acting more like a Democrat than a Republican.” [Breitbart News, 7/27/15]