12 Facts About Trump’s New Campaign Manager — Hint: He’s Filthy Rich (VIDEO)

If you’re a Sarah Palin fan, you’ll love the guy just picked to run the Donald Trump campaign. Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, is now the third guy in three months to be in charge of Trump’s flailing Republican presidential campaign.

Bannon, who has never run a political campaign, was obviously chosen because he will not urge Trump to be more presidential but encourage him to be even more outlandish going forward, if such a thing is possible.

Chances are, people reading this are not Breitbart fans and, therefore, not familiar with Bannon. Here are a few things you should know about him:

1. Breitbart makes Fox News look restrained and responsible.

As Media Matters noted, the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported that Breitbart has become a voice of what’s known as the “Alt-Right.”

“The SPLC noted that ‘Over the past year the media outlet has been openly promoting the core issues of the Alt-Right, introducing these racist ideas to its readership—much to the delight of many in the white nationalist world who could never dream of reaching such a vast number of people’ and pointed out that the site has been ‘publishing more overtly racist diatribes about Muslims and immigrants’ since 2015.”

2. Bannon will likely continue or escalate Trump’s war on the press.

You may recall that Trump’s then-campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery of Michelle Fields, a Breitbart reporter at the time. Though the charges were dropped, Lewandowski had clearly grabbed Fields, then lied about it. Yet Breitbart took Lewandowski’s side. Fields and three others resigned as a result.

When Ben Shapiro, a former editor-at-large at Breitbart, resigned, he issued a statement calling Bannon “a bully” who turned the site into “Trump’s personal Pravda.”

3. Expect more Clinton sex smears.

In a Bloomberg interview last year, Bannon revealed that he’d love to revive the Bill Clinton sex scandals.

“‘There’s a whole generation of people who love the news but were 7 or 8 years old when this happened and have no earthly idea about the Clinton sex stuff,’ he says.”

Media Matters points out that Bannon also helped launch the Clinton Cash book and movie.

4. Bannon may be closer to Wall Street than Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump loves to attack Hillary Clinton as too close to Wall Street. But he may have to ditch that particular line of attack now. Not only did Bannon work for Goldman Sachs, he left there to form his own investment bank.

Coincidentally, Trump’s speech last week proposed a moratorium on new financial regulations.

5. Bannon directed a documentary designed to launch Sarah Palin’s 2012 presidential campaign.

From Media Matters:

“In 2011, Bannon released The Undefeated, a documentary that was viewed as trying to pave the way for a Palin presidential run. It was savaged by critics as ‘a straight hagiography, without nuance or ambiguity,’ ‘fawning,’ and ‘worshipful.'”

It was also a huge flop. As Think Progress reported, the film earned a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

6. He made Roger Stone’s Worst Dressed List in 2015.

Mr. Stone is a self-described “alternative historian who was one [sic] the legendary American Republican political consultant who has played a key role in the election of Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.”

So yeah, to make this guys worst dressed list? Quite an accomplishment.

bannon_lede
Bloomberg

The caption under the photo:

Steven K. Bannon – Literally the most dangerous political journalist in America,. The man behind the cannon ,that is BREITBART NEWS . Bannon is pushing Alternative Media to new dimensions. Effective. Fearless. Dogged. Bannon cares not a whit about his garb. He is changing the political narrative as a counter force to the MSM everyday. Who has time for dressing? Bannon let Bloomberg shoot his photo in shorts dressed like he was at summer frat party. Shame.

7. Bloomberg Politics considers him to be the “Most Dangerous Political Operative in America.”

From Bloomberg Politics:

When Sarah Palin was at the height of her fame, Bannon was whispering in her ear. When Donald Trump decided to blow up the Republican presidential field, Bannon encouraged his circus-like visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. John Boehner just quit as House speaker because of the mutinous frenzy Bannon and his confederates whipped up among conservatives. 

Read the entire article. It’s a lot.

8. He’s highly educated.

Before you dismiss this guy because he looks like a buffoon and worked for Breitbart, consider that he holds a master’s degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. (source)

9. He’s a veteran.

Bannon served as a naval officer, and as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Pacific Fleet aboard the USS Paul F. Foster. He also served as a Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations.

10. He has a lot of money.

Some sources say Bannon may be worth as much as $40 million. He made most of his money from his stake in various movies and television shows, including Seinfeld. So every time you watch Seinfeld, you’re putting money in Steve Bannon’s pocket.

The Daily Beast was able to obtain a text comment on Bannon’s new job from one of Seinfeld’s former writers:

“Jesus. No comment.”

11. His daughter is in the military.

Bannon’s daughter Maureen is a West Point graduate and a lieutenant in the prestigious 101st Airborne Division. We were unable to find any information about a wife or female companion.

12. He will enable Trump in his distancing from the GOP establishment.

From Fortune:

Bannon has been outspoken in his dislike of the GOP political establishment, telling a 2013 crowd in Washington D.C. that he didn’t believe in a “functional conservative party” in the U.S. and that the Republicans certainly weren’t that.

Watch a trailer for the film below, via YouTube, and keep your fingers crossed Bannon will do for the Donald Trump campaign exactly what he did for Palin.

Ellen Brodsky is a long time blogger for NewsHounds.us and a contributor to Crooks and Liars. She has also worked as a researcher for Brave New Films' landmark documentary, "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Iraq for Sale."