The two friends have a falling out just before the final debate
One of Donald Trumps most trusted friends, former Fox New president Roger Ailes is gone from the Republican nominee’s inner circle. According to Vanity Fair, the two men with massive egos clashed over Trumps lack of focus during debate prep for tonight’s final showdown with Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas.
Since he left Fox in a buyout after a sexual harassment scandal he served as an unpaid advisor to his longtime friend. While, the campaign denied that Ailes was a member of the team, the two old friends talked on the phone and Ailes was seen helping out getting Trump ready for his first two debates.
According to Vanity Fair, why Ailes left depends upon who you ask. If you ask the Ailes camp he a waste of time because the candidate refused to focus on the issues during debate prep. Ailes pushed for a more issue based debate style while Trump, wanted to continue a more freewheeling style.
However, the Trump camp has a different reason why Ailes left. They contend that Ailes made it all about him when he was supposed to be helping the GOP nominee. No matter the reason Trump lost one of the savviest political debate minds in the business in Ailes who trained former President Ronald Reagan in his debate prep.
The other voice in the Trump corner is of course the campaigns CEO Steve Bannon. He is the 60-year-old Executive Chairman of Breitbart News Network. He has quickly become Trumps most trusted non-family confidant.
Bannon is a fan of a more animated Trump like the one who was more of a street fighter than a debater the last time he and Clinton got together. Bannon enjoys the brash Trump that is at home blasting Clinton rather than engaging her in a more traditional debate style.
For those who are not aware The Breitbart News Network was founded in 2004 by the late Andrew Breitbart. Breitbart’s admiration for the Drudge Report and involvement in the creation of the Huffington Post led him to create his own right-wing news network in response to a perceived opportunity for new media opportunities not being pursued by traditional media outlets. Most notably, Breitbart News was credited with breaking the sexting scandal of former New York Governor Anthony Weiner. When Breitbart died unexpectedly in 2012 at the age of 43, Bannon was appointed Executive Chairman.
With Ailes now out of the picture at least for a while look for Trump to be more of the brash street fighter than a topic oriented debater tonight vs. Clinton.
