Trump overhauls campaign team

by Elliot Smilowitz - 08/17/16 6:48 AM ET

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday gave his stumbling campaign a major shake-up, bringing in two top leadership figures.

Trump hired Breitbart News Chairman Stephen Bannon to be the campaign’s chief executive and Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway to be campaign manager.

{mosads}The campaign announced the moves in a statement early Wednesday. They were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The statement said the moves were “designed to bolster the business-like approach of Mr. Trump’s campaign.” It noted campaign chairman Paul Manafort will stay on in his current position.

Trump himself called Bannon and Conway “extremely capable, highly qualified people who love to win and know how to win.”

“I believe we’re 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,” he added in the statement.

“I am committed to doing whatever it takes to win this election, and ultimately become President because our country cannot afford four more years of the failed Obama-Clinton policies which have endangered out financial and physical security.”

Bannon has no campaign experience but has been informally advising some in the campaign for several months, according to Politico.

The shake-up comes after a series of bad news cycles for Trump, who has fallen behind Clinton, the Democratic nominee, both nationally and in key battleground states.

Trump has faced wide criticism for attacking the Muslim parents of an Army captain killed in the Iraq War, as well as for saying “Second Amendment people” could prevent Clinton from appointing liberal justice to the Supreme Court and calling President Obama the “founder” of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The campaign’s struggles have fed fears that Trump could hurt down-ballot Republicans, possibly costing the GOP the Senate and putting the House in play.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton