Trump camp hires people ensnared in controversy

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, struggling with his falling approval rating, has faced another set of challenges due to his newly-hired aides.

Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News and now Trump’s campaign chief, is at issue due to domestic abuse charges and using a false home address in election paperwork. According to Politico, Bannon was charged for allegedly using violence against his wife in January 1996 when he was living in California. Police records showed that he had a quarrel with his wife who wanted his credit card for shopping on the first day of the year and pulled at her neck and wrist. In response to the allegation, Bannon’s attorney said, "The bottom line is he has a great relationship with the twins, he has a great relationship with the ex-wife, he still supports them.”

Some raised the claim that he made an anti-Semitic remark. According to the New York Daily News, his ex-wife told at a court in 2007, "He said that he doesn't like the way they raise their (twin) kids to be 'whiny brats' and that he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews.” Bannon’s attorney issued a statement, saying, “He did not say anything like that.”

According to The Hill, Bannon registered his Miami-Dade County home in Florida in the election paperwork, but the home is said to be vacant and removed soon. The state’s election law mandates a voter to register one’s actual home address and breaching this could lead to up to five years in prison.

In addition, Bill Stepien, a former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was dismissed due to the George Washington Bridge scandal in 2013, has also joined Trump’s camp, which is stirring controversy. In the scandal, Gov. Chris Christie closed some lanes entering to the George Washington Bridge to put the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who did not support his re-election in trouble, causing a serious traffic jam.

The New York Times said, “Donald J. Trump has called for 'extreme vetting' to determine who is allowed to enter the United States, but when it comes to his presidential campaign, he has shown a propensity to be lenient when it comes to the kinds of red flags that might scare off other candidates.”

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