In American politics; if you want the truth; you must follow the money. This is what happened for me when I witnessed another upheaval in the Donald Trump campaign. Kellyanne Conway is a long time Republican, whose expertise is in taking polls and analyzing them accurately, but she had never been a campaign manager. Okay, I accepted that, and a few days later I believed that I was watching her influence when Trump used a teleprompter and read from a prepared script. Another individual was added to Trump’s staff, and received the title of “Campaign CEO.” His name is Steve Bannon. He had been the main man at Breitbart. If you don’t know what Breitbart is, I’ll explain it so you will understand my confusion.

Andrew Breitbart created the “Breitbart Website” in 2007; he died in 2012. It first appeared as a ‘video blog,’ and later became a politicized publication. It has ‘devolved’ through the years and is now known as the most extreme right wing publication in our nation. Breitbart openly supports racism, bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia. In addition, it supports its founder’s belief in white supremacy.

So why add Bannon, who became Breitbart’s successor, to his campaign? What does this say about Trump’s staff and what it supports? The answer will never be something you’ll hear on mainstream media. His name is Robert Mercer.

Robert Mercer is a billionaire who funded Breitbart. He also supported Ted Cruz during his presidential run; and that effort was led by Kellyanne Conway. Mercer is now the major supporter of Trump’s campaign. Under his orders, Conway and Bannon became the central figures on Trump’s staff. This is another case of follow the money.

Before the convention, Trump bragged about running his own campaign. He was not responsible to any other individual, mostly because the funding came from his own fortune. Because he answered to no one, he was allowed to be as extreme as he chose, and he found millions of supporters who were like-minded. That is no longer the case. Robert Mercer is running Trump’s campaign.

Mercer is now giving orders to Conway, who in turn instructs Trump regarding the content and delivery of his message to supporters. Uninformed Republicans who continue to support Trump are no longer hearing his ideas; his beliefs. They are now hearing the extremist views of a billionaire whose money has become the driving force behind the Republican standard bearer.

The biggest change in Trump’s rhetoric is his stand on immigration reform. This was his original and primary focus for more than a year. He stated in his most recent speech that he “will work with them.” He is no longer talking about deportation for all of more than 11 million undocumented workers. Other than an obvious move of desperation to acquire Hispanic voters, is this a mandate from Mercer? Is Bannon supporting this change in direction? More importantly, what does the candidate himself believe in today? Who is Donald Trump? I’m certain that even his most ardent supporters are asking those questions.

The Republican Party’s strange campaign season continues. Extremely ineffective leadership allowed the most unqualified candidate in history to win the party’s nomination. Trump’s nomination was verification that the GOP had split into two, and maybe three factions. Despite the weak efforts of Reince Priebus and others, there is no unity, and there never will be.

With the addition of Bannon to Trump’s staff, the Ku Klux Klan claimed that they had ‘taken control of the Republican Party.’ Is this the truth, or has it simply been exposed for what it has always been?

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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