Conservative Connecticut town torn apart as 'Trumplicans' take control using Bannon strategy

The wealthy Connecticut enclave of Greenwich, long seen as the province of the GOP establishment, has been taken over by the MAGA forces energized by former President Donald Trump.

Reporting on the suburb, The New York Times reported Monday that the Republican Town Committee complained about "white people" not being specifically mentioned as welcome at the annual "ciders and donuts" event as Greenwich Country Day School.

"The culture wars were destined to spill someday into the rarefied precincts of Greenwich. But who in the name of George Bush would have expected the charge to be led by a band of Trump acolytes who have taken control of the town’s Republican committee?" the newspaper wondered. "The electoral worth of the party’s far-right swerve will be tested nationwide in this week’s midterm elections."

Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT) got his start in politics when he was elected as a Greenwich selectman in 1987.

"Here in Greenwich, long a bastion of moderate Republicans like the elder Mr. Bush — a Greenwich Country Day alum — the takeover has people asking: Who are these Greenwich Republicans? And did they lock the town’s traditional Republican leaders in the hold of some yacht in Greenwich Harbor?" The Times asked. "The answer: They are a small, well-organized group that essentially applied the 'precinct strategy' espoused by the former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon, which calls for toppling local political establishments to clear the way for like-minded Republican candidates who will one day guide the country’s future."

IN OTHER NEWS: Florida cops investigated for viral video of arrest of blind man: report

United States District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled Bannon could remain free why he appealed his conviction for contempt of Congress.

"But some Greenwich Republicans worry that their party may venture so far right it will fall off the political cliff. For them, former President Donald J. Trump is the unpredictable uncle who could turn the family barbecue into a three-alarm fire," the newspaper reported. "Perhaps because Mr. Trump’s ideology and style influence local politics so profoundly that John Breunig, editorial page editor of The Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time, described Greenwich as a three-party town: Democrat, Republican and 'Trumplican.' The Greenwich Republican ecosystem is such that James O’Keefe, the founder of the conservative activist group Project Veritas, is practically a local celebrity."

Read the full report.