Another day, another shake up at Trump headquarters. This latest reshuffling by Trump, however, finally wipes away any doubt about his intention of ever securing the White House. The end game has been revealed.
Ever since he became the Republican presidential nominee, the talk has been about Trump acting more presidential; about pivoting from the divisive primary campaign rhetoric to a more inclusive general election mode. As we all know, the turnaround never came. Talk swirled that Trump was deliberately sabotaging his election chances.
And now we have the hiring of Stephen Bannon, chairman of the Breitbart News website, as Trump’s new campaign manager. This coming only one day after announcing Roger Ailes, former head of Fox News, as a campaign “advisor.”
Most people are familiar with Fox News, otherwise known as the official Republican propaganda network for the past twenty years. But not many people know of Breitbart News, a right wing online website founded in 2007. Making no apologies for its conservative, fringe worldview, it attacks establishment opponents (both Democratic and Republican) and traffics in conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats — as well as some Republicans it views as the enemy.
Think of Breitbart News as Fox News on steroids.
Trump joining forces with Bannon and Ailes is a marriage made in conservative media heaven. It all makes so much sense!
“Talk radio, Fox News and the conservative web sites created space for an outsider like Trump to storm the GOP citadel,” Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist, told CNNMoney. “Now Trump, having tried — not very hard — to kiss and make up with the GOP establishment seems to be reverting to the media guerrillas who initially gave him the microphone and the push he needed.”
The much longed for Trump pivot has finally come, but it is not what establishment Republicans had hoped for. Look for Trump, under the tutelage of Bannon and Ailes, to become even more harsh and divisive. The hope will be to lose the presidential election, blame it on “the establishment” for rigging the election process, while building up Trump’s base of mostly angry white working class voters.
This strategy will supply the viewership base needed to give flight to a new conservative media empire controlled by Trump and his two associates. A truly brilliant move on the Donald’s part! People have said Trump has always wanted to be a media mogul like Rupert Murdoch.
Watch out, Fox News, your days of cable dominance may be numbered.
Photos | variety.com, thinkprogress.com, nbcnews.com
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