Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist has been booted off of the National Security Council (NSC) it was announced Wednesday. The former executive chairman of Breibart News is widely considered a white supremacist having proclaimed the website a platform for the “alt-right,” a rebranding term for neo-Nazis and KKK types.
Bannon’s placement on the NSC was widely panned in Democratic and some Republican circles as it threatened to politicize the body. White House sources claimed the move is not a demotion or loss of authority. However these claims are likely spin. Trump is not known for backing up or giving ground. Thus his advisor’s extraction was in all likelihood a forced one and the result of a bitter struggle. “Bannon opposed the change, even saying he’d quit if the president signed off on it, according to one person familiar with the situation,” according to Politico.
In the view of some a split has emerged between Bannon and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, with Bannon being the losing party.
Considering this and Trump’s forced retreats on immigration and Obamacare – key defeats for the strategist with the immigration debacle carrying his signature – another question looms: Is Bannon on his way out?
That’s probably unlikely. Rather the move is a “signal that more traditionally-minded forces are beginning to get their way in the White House.”
Still it’s clear that Bannon’s early power plays that demoted military and security officials and elevated figures from his Briebart circle has suffered a setback – and that’s extremely important given their fascist leanings. What’s also clear is that it’s time to keep the pressure on.
Photo: Creative Commons 3.0
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