Trump Campaign Hires Breitbart News’ 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]

Bannon Is Obsessed With Conspiracy Theories Connecting The Muslim Brotherhood To Democrats

Bannon Promoted Theory That Orlando Shooter’s Father Was At A Clinton Rally Because Of The Muslim Brotherhood. In a discussion with anti-Muslim hate group leader Frank Gaffney, Bannon stated that he often teases his “brothers over at InfoWars” for “putting the tin foil hat on” and pushing “conspiracy theories,” but went on to question, “is the Muslim Brotherhood somehow” responsible for getting the father of the Orlando gay nightclub shooter to sit behind Clinton during a rally in Orlando:

STEPHEN BANNON (HOST): One of the things we do here is kind of kid and tease people when they -- and by the way, we love our brothers over at InfoWars, Alex Jones, you know, dear friend. These guys are fantastic. We do tease those guys and we tease them or call us sometimes when they’re putting the tin foil hat on and putting the rabbit ears in a certain way and conspiracy theories. But, please tell me Frank, how can a rational individual not see what happened yesterday and think somehow the Muslim Brotherhood -- you can’t have somebody sitting up in back of a nominee for a party that doesn’t have their date of birth and social security number checked. You don’t get that close to a candidate. And she’s the first lady of a former president. How does that -- is the Muslim Brotherhood somehow -- this guy had to get -- he didn’t walk across the street to go to that rally. I think it’s a two and a half hour drive from his house. Walk me through how that happened.

FRANK GAFFNEY: Well I don’t personally have the details on how it happened, Steve, but I think you’re asking the right kinds of questions, which is, how do any of these folks get selected? Khizr Khan, as we’ve talked about in the past, being another example. They’re obviously being recruited by the campaign, whether they’re coming out of the blue and offering their services or whether somebody is identifying them and saying, “Hey, this is a guy we want to use as a prop.” [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 8/10/16]

Bannon Questioned Whether The Clintons Are “Complicit In A Fifth Column” That Profits Off Sharia. During a discussion with Gaffney, Bannon asked if the Clinton’s supposed involvement with a group called GEMS Education made them “complicit in a fifth column in this country of people that are taking money and making money and cashing in on our sworn enemies and the sworn enemies of just not the United States of America but the entire Judeo-Christian West?” Bannon further questioned whether the Clintons were “in business … with people that are looking for the destruction of our entire civilization?”:

FRANK GAFFNEY: Richard Pollock reports that there is a company in Dubai, GEMS Education, G.E.M.S. Education, with which the former first lady, former secretary of state, and so on, her family, her foundation, her husband has been intimately involved with for years. And the GEMS education outfit has, as its mission, teaching Sharia around the world. Notably, 51 schools in the Middle East including the only foreign firm allowed to teach Sharia in Saudi Arabia. That tells you something about the quality of their purity on Sharia, that they can teach it to Wahhabis. Also in parts of North Africa, Asia, and even two schools in Chicago, Richard reports. And the Clintons have made millions and millions and millions of dollars out of their association with this firm and its owner, a fellow by the name of Sunny Varkey. Steve, the concern that I have is this is just one more reminder of the extent to which Hillary Clinton and her entourage are associated with this toxic, brutally oppressive, totalitarian, women hating program -- Sharia.

STEPHEN BANNON (HOST): Is it more than an association with Huma Abedin and the World Muslim League and the Muslim Brotherhood and now GEMS, with the Sharia law? Are they complicit in a fifth column in this country of people that are taking money and making money and cashing in on our sworn enemies, on the sworn enemies of just not the United States of America but the entire Judeo-Christian West? Are they in business in monetizing in partnerships with people that are looking for the destruction of our entire civilization?

GAFFNEY: I don’t know how else to characterize it. You look at folks who believe that this Sharia program is something God or Allah is directing them to impose on everybody else. And that’s what Sharia law is all about. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 8/10/16]

Bannon Asked Caller If The Muslim Brotherhood “Had Something To Do With Khan Being Invited To Talk” At The Democratic National Convention. In a conversation with a caller Bannon asked whether it was “a little strange” that the “wingman for Hillary Clinton who wants to be the commander in chief” is, as the caller describes, “a Muslim World League influencer.” Later, Bannon asked the caller if the Muslim Brotherhood “had something to do with Khan being invited to talk” at the Democratic National Convention:

CALLER: I listened to Frank Gaffney earlier. He asked that one question, “who is Huma Abedin?”

STEPHEN BANNON (HOST): Who is Huma Abedin to you, sir?

CALLER: She is a Muslim World League influencer, OK?

BANNON: What’s she doing as the right-hand man? She’s the wingman for Hillary Clinton, who wants to be commander in chief of our beloved armed forces. Do you think that’s a little strange?

CALLER: Yeah, I think it’s real damn strange. And I’m going to add another name to that list, Grover Norquist, OK? He’s an agent of change. We haven’t heard much from him lately.

[...]

The Muslim Brotherhood is everywhere. We’ve got to be very damn careful who we associate --

BANNON: Do you think that they’ve had something to do with Khan being invited to talk and the father of the shooter being there on stage with Hillary Clinton, in back of her, endorsing her? By the way, he told us he’s endorsing. Do you think there’s a connection? [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 8/10/16]

Bannon: “We’ve Got A Lot Of Information On Tim Kaine’s Affiliation With The Muslim Brotherhood.” During a conversation with a caller about whether the Democratic Party was “aligning with our enemies,” Bannon claimed that Breitbart News had “a lot of information on Tim Kaine’s affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood” and vowed to “drill down everyday,” adding that “Tim Kaine is going to have to defend himself” over these accusations:

CALLER: [Democrats] put people in their cabinet, I mean VP nominees, have close confidants who are known members, or have family members, who are in the Muslim Brotherhood.

STEPHEN BANNON (HOST): Do you believe Tim Kaine’s got a problem with the Muslim Brotherhood, as Breitbart’s been reporting the last couple of days? And we will continue to report. Brother Kaine better watch out. We’ve got a lot of information on Tim Kaine’s affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and we’re going to drill down everyday, and Tim Kaine is going to have to defend himself. I will say this, and we’ve said this from the very beginning, as a Democra,t they have made a huge mistake not getting a progressive on that ticket. Tim Kaine is going to have a lot of problems. There’s a lot of stuff about Tim Kaine that’s going to come up. Now, you’ve seen this stuff so far. Do you think Tim Kaine’s got a problem, Don?

CALLER: He’s got a major problem. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart News Daily, 7/27/16]

Bannon And Guest Push Conspiracy Theory That Obama Has “Contracted” The Muslim Brotherhood To Influence Government Agencies. Bannon hosted Joe Schmitz, who currently serves as a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, and discussed whether the Obama administration has “contracted” out the “shaping of the policy” to Muslim Brotherhood affiliated organizations. Schmitz responded, “I don’t think it, I know it”:

STEVE BANNON (HOST): A lot of the neo-cons are sitting there and saying, ‘oh, this is a retreat of America. This is isolationism.’

JOE SCHMITZ: Just the opposite.

BANNON: Why is it just the opposite?

SCHMITZ: Just the opposite. What you’re going to see is instead of our commander in chief hiring the Muslim Brotherhood to advise them on the enemy, you’re going to see Donald Trump hiring the very best experts he can find, regardless of political party. He will take control of the White House and start driving the ship of state in the right direction, where right now it's going in the exact wrong direction, and fast.

BANNON: Do you believe that there's actual Muslim Brotherhood influence that's been influenced both at the Homeland Security, State Department, Defense Department, and White House -- of these guys, whether it's the CAIR group, North American Islamic Association, all these associations that have affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood -- do you actually think they are somehow involved in the shaping of the policy? You think Obama, to a degree, has contracted that out?

SCHMITZ: No, I don’t think it. I know it. [SiriusXM Patriot, Breitbart Daily News, 7/19/16]