The man steering Donald Trump’s run for the presidency, Paul Manafort, informed reporters that the party’s platform under the presumptive GOP nominee would include a call to break up certain big banks.
During a morning briefing on Monday ahead of the start of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Manafort claimed that the party platform contained language pushing for the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act.
He said that its revival was necessary to enact “barriers between what the big banks can do and try to avoid some of the crises that led to 2008.”
The rule, which was adopted in 1933, prohibited banks from using savings to finance investment trading. It was repealed in 1999, under the presidency of Bill Clinton.
“We believe that the Obama-Clinton years have passed legislation that has been favorable to the big banks,” Manafort added, “which is why you see all the Wall Street money going to her.”
The GOP’s platform writing committee approved a first-draft of staunchly conservative—and often bizarre—proposals last week, which didn’t included language endorsing Glass-Steagall. Calls to ban pornography and gay marriage did make the cut.
Manafort told reporters on Monday, however, that “there’s been some added components that reflect the issues that Mr. Trump has raised during the campaign.”
He added that he expects the platform “to be adopted without any changes” during the convention.
On the campaign trail, Trump rarely spoke in detail on financial reform, and never called on Congress to revive Glass-Steagall.
Trump’s positioning on the issue now could mark a bid for supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The senator’s populist message lead to his victory over the heavily-favored Hillary Clinton in nearly two dozen states.
In a nod to the insurgent democratic socialist, the Democratic Party platform draft also included language supporting the cleaving of investment and savings institutions.
