President-elect Donald Trump announced today that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will be his chief of staff. But more important, he announced that Steve Bannon–former head of Breitbart News and CEO of the Trump campaign–will be his chief strategist.
Bannon’s work at Breitbart has been described as “Alt-Right Lite,” but that shouldn’t make it any more tolerable. The racist, anti-semitic, homophobic messages are all there. Now we know they will be sullying the White House.
This August profile of Bannon from Vanity Fair quotes a former Breitbart employee describing him as “Donald Trump but more intelligent.” It goes on to say:
He didn’t mean it as a compliment, and was instead referring to the opportunism, the personal vindictiveness, and the lack of a moral center that have become defining characteristics of Trump.
I really hoped that his campaign talk was just an engine to get elected. I hoped that once he got into office he would recognize the awesome responsibility that comes with being President of the United States and govern accordingly. Well now that hope is gone. Bannon is a blatant racist and Breitbart is a haven for white nationalists. I wanted to give him a chance I really did but I think it’s clear Trump has no interest in governing from the center.