News of a huge restructuring within Donald Trump's campaign broke early on ?? ??? ??? ???Wednesday, and it might mean more for media than it does for flagging the Republican nominee's campaign.
After a rough couple of weeks following both parties' nomination conventions, drawn out public spats and reports of organizational infighting, Trump effectively demoted his campaign manager Paul Manafort and installed Stephen Bannon as the chief executive and Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager.
SEE ALSO: Hey America: It's August. Let's all take a nice long Trumpcation.This shake up is most likely a decision by Trump to regain control of his sinking poll numbers, but those that watch Trump closely have speculated that the reality TV host could be making a move to establish a future media platform.
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While Conway was a Republican pollster, Bannon ran Breitbart, a conservative news organization that has been outwardly supportive of Trump throughout most of his campaign.
The addition of Bannon comes only a day after The New York Timesreported that Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News who was pushed out after many allegations of sexual harassment surfaced, is also advising the Trump campaign.
With the aid of two very notable media leaders, Trump might be looking past the election and at the desire to give his candidacy's base a media outlet of its own.
It's something he hinted at back in June.
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And the prospect of a Trump media platform is something that Sarah Ellison, writing for Vanity Fair, explored at length, finding it plausible that the real estate magnate's supporters could translate into real ratings for a fledgling cable channel or news startup.
The timing of such a project would follow Trump's recent messaging on the current state of media. After scathing articles by dominant outlets on the state of his campaign, he has turned up the heat on how the media covers him. Trump is now hinting that the coverage has become a conspiracy.
Speculation on Bannon and Ailes joining the Trump campaign to set the groundwork for a future media play has gathered steam not too long after the campaign shake-up news broke.
In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Greg Sargent mentioned the team-up does appear suspicious, but that Bannon and Ailes coming on board most probably meant eyeing a win in November.
CNN's Brian Stelter openly discussed the possibility of a future Trump media move this morning.
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As with most things Trump, we can only speculate and hope some clarity is given with time.