Inside Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s inner circle
FROM family members to trusted advisers, these are the 10 key people who Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton turn to first.
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FROM family to key advisers, here are the people in Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s inner circles.
TEAM TRUMP
1 — Kellyanne Conway
The veteran Republican strategist and pollster revived Mr Trump’s campaign when she replaced Corey Lewandowski in July. Even Democrats admire her cut-through style, which earned her a parody on Saturday Night Live. How much Mr Trump listens to her is debatable but she is gifted in being able to paint him in a more sympathetic light than others.
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2 — Ivanka Trump
Hillary Clinton said during the debates that Donald Trump’s family is the thing she admires most about him. Americans agree and his eldest daughter, Ivanka, is a media darling. Likeable, intelligent, beautiful, a doting mother, faithful wife and successful businesswoman — what’s not to like?
3 — Jared Kushner
Kushner’s family are US property moguls in their own right. Ivanka’s husband Jared is the owner of Kushner Properties. The Kushners are a strong Democrat family with Mr Kushner’s brother, Josh, saying he would not be voting for Trump. Jared Kushner is rumoured to be the driving force in getting Trump TV off the ground should his father-in-law lose the election.
4 — The ‘other’ Trumps
If Donald Trump accepts advice from anyone it is his family. He invited his eventual running mate Mike Pence to a lunch with his children so they could determine if he was a good choice for their father. Eldest sons, Donald Jr and Eric, have the ear of their dad even if their public comments have landed them in hot water. Until last week, wife Melania had a less visible role in his campaign after the debacle of her plagiarised speech but her support after his “p***y grabbing” comments were invaluable to the under-siege candidate.
5 — Mike Pence
Donald Trump’s pick for vice president put up his hand to help the Republicans when many went missing. A party loyalist and strong conservative, Republicans were happy to see the Indiana governor on the ticket. He won the only VP debate against opponent Tim Kaine, although his performance reportedly left his boss unhappy because he didn’t feel like Governor Pence defended him enough. Many expect him to be the Republican candidate in 2020 if Trump loses.
6 — Bernard Marcus
He may not be a household name but the co-founder of Home Depot has donated more money to Donald Trump’s campaign than anyone else. In fact, of the Wall Street Journal’s list of top donors, he is the only Trump supporter in the top 10, having spent at least $US7 million to see him get elected.
7 — Rudy Giuliani
The former New York mayor has been a staunch Trump supporter from the early days when no one would touch him. He has been one of his most vocal advocates, appearing in the media daily to tell Americans why they should vote for Mr Trump. He was caught out lying that Hillary Clinton was not at Ground Zero on September 11 — photos of the pair together proved he was making it up.
8 — Ben Carson
The retired neurosurgeon performed the first and only successful separation of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head. His foray into US politics was arguably more confusing for him after he surged to the front of the pack in the primaries only to fall away quickly. Dr Carson did however form a bond with Mr Trump during that time and has been trying to convince his fellow African-Americans why they should vote for the billionaire.
9 — Newt Gingrich
If Donald Trump needed an attack dog then he found one in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The Republican was applauded by Mr Trump for the way he shut down Fox News’ Megyn Kelly as she questioned him about Mr Trump’s comments about sexually assaulting women, which were caught on a hot mic. He has also managed to criticise Mr Trump on such matters as his 3am tweets without drawing the ire of the man himself.
10 — Celebrity backers
With many Americans still undecided, the endorsement of a well-loved celebrity sometimes helps sway voters. Mr Trump’s problem is that most entertainers outside the country music industry tend to sway Democrat. There are exceptions however. Scott ‘Chachi’ Baio, underwear model Antonio Sabato Jr, Kirstie Alley, Clint Eastwood, former superman Dean Cain, Gene Simmons, Hulk Hogan, Angelina Jolie’s dad, Jon Voight, Kid Rock, Mike Tyson and Stephen Baldwin are all firmly on Team Trump.
TEAM CLINTON
1 — Michelle Obama
People can’t get enough of the first lady. She is immensely popular in a similar way to Ivanka Trump, but also has the ability to deliver a powerful campaign speech, many of which have gone viral. Polls consistently show if this first lady was running she would beat any candidate, including her husband for the White House. Any issues Mrs Clinton and Mrs Obama had in the past seem to have been put behind them.
2 — Barack Obama
He may not be as popular with the American public as his wife but Barack Obama has been a critical supporter for Mrs Clinton. His popularity is at 56 per cent, making him more popular than Republican darling Ronald Reagan in the final months of his presidency. Mr Obama is somewhat tied to Mrs Clinton given he appointed her Secretary of State but he has stepped up in a big way to help out — including hitting the campaign trail at a moment’s notice when Mrs Clinton took time off to recover from pneumonia.
3 — Bill and Chelsea Clinton
Hillary Clinton likes to remind people of the way her husband turned the economy around in the 1990s. Bill Clinton is one of the most popular living presidents and his wife has been keen to associate herself with that given she is much less popular. Bill Clinton’s secret meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on his private plane in June, just a week before the FBI decided not to press charges against Hillary Clinton over the email scandal, shows he is heavily involved in ensuring her success. Their political partnership is unlike any other outside of the Underwoods in House of Cards. Daughter Chelsea is perhaps one of Hillary’s most trusted confidantes. The pair share a close and loving relationship with Chelsea’s opinion often sought and valued by Mrs Clinton.
4 — John Podesta
Clinton’s campaign chairman’s name often makes headlines due to the WikiLeaks documents, including thousands of emails from him to other staff talking about his boss’s image. Mr Podesta was chief of staff for a period during Bill Clinton’s presidency. He was the one who convinced Hillary Clinton to run for the Senate in New York State. He also launched one of Washington’s largest lobbying firms, the Podesta Group, with his brother and also the influential think tank, the Centre for American Progress in 2003. When he finished working for Bill Clinton he said he would only return for one job — Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff.
5 — Bernie Sanders
Hillary Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination has become one of her most important supporters. His campaign was so successful in pointing out Mrs Clinton’s flaws that anything other than his full support in the general election would have resulted in many Democrats looking for other alternatives. He is far from her biggest fan but has been hitting the campaign trail to advocate why she must be the next president of the United States.
6 — Huma Abedin
Hillary Clinton once said she only has one daughter but if she had another it would be Huma Abedin, who started as a support to Mrs Clinton’s personal aide before becoming her deputy chief of staff during her time as Secretary of State. She has been described as Mrs Clinton’s most trusted adviser, however their relationship has been strained since the FBI reopened the investigation into Mrs Clinton’s emails. While investigating Ms Abedin’s estranged husband’s alleged text messages to an underage girl, the FBI found “emails pertinent to the (Clinton) investigation” on a laptop both Anthony Weiner and Ms Abedin used.
7 — Donald Sussman
No individual has spent more than Sussman on this election — donating a whopping $US21 million to Mrs Clinton’s campaign. That is $US11 million more than Mrs Clinton’s second biggest supporter, George Soros, who has tipped in $US9.5 million. Mr Sussman says his total donations are closer to $US40 million. Strangely enough he says the main reason he is supporting Mrs Clinton is because of her opposition of Citizens United, which loosened the rules around campaign financing. “It’s very odd to be giving millions when your objective is to actually get the money out of politics,” he admits.
8 — Robby Mook
His Wikipedia page notes that Mr Mook is the first gay campaign manager of a major presidential campaign but to Hillary Clinton he is much more than that. Mr Mook has been on Team Hillary since 2007 when he joined her first campaign to be president. After that he headed up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works on electing Democrats to Congress through recruitment and fundraising giving him a broader understanding of the party. Mr Mook is well regarded, having been named in 2013 as one of Politico’s ‘50 Politicos to Watch’, as well as having a group of about 150 young political operatives known as the “Mook Mafia.”
9 — Katy Perry
The Roar singer has been Mrs Clinton’s most vocal and visible celebrity backer, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, lending her song Rise for the campaign and even dressing as Mrs Clinton for Halloween. Perry’s influence is great — she has more followers than anyone else on Twitter and has about 57 million followers on Instagram.
10 — Other Celebrity backers
The Democrats garner a lot of support with the arts community and Hillary Clinton is no exception. Girls’ star Lena Dunham and former Ugly Betty star America Ferrera both spoke at the Democratic Convention, Scandal’s Kerry Washington and former Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria have also been working for Mrs Clinton’s campaign as well. In addition, she has been receiving support from megastars like Beyonce and Jay Z, Meryl Streep, Lady Gaga, as well as the casts of The West Wing and Will & Grace.
Originally published as Inside Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s inner circle
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