Steve Bannon, formerly Chief White House Strategist, is the most recent of a long line of Trump staffers to be abruptly fired since the president took office in January. Bannon, perhaps the most controversial member of Trump’s team, was considered the brains behind Trump’s 2016 campaign — he’s credited with forming many of the president’s “America first” nationalist messaging.
His level of influence in the White House and relationship to the president has been under public scrutiny, specifically considering Bannon’s previous position as executive chair of Breitbart News — a far-right news website which Bannon himself described as “the platform for the alt-right”. Under Bannon’s leadership, the website has been frequently criticized for pandering to racists, and contributing to a larger effort to “transform conservatism into European far-right nationalist populism”. Accusations of Bannon being an anti-Semite himself have shrouded his time at the White House, and have contributed to his alleged feuds between other members of Trump’s staff.
Now, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that today would be Bannon’s last at the White House. This following last week’s characteristically vague response by President Trump when asked about the Chief Strategist’s future — “We’ll see,” he replied. That exchange fueled speculation that Bannon was on his way out.
Much like former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci’s recent departure, Bannon’s firing comes after a highly discussed interview published by the American Prospect that apparently was conducted without Bannon’s understanding of it being an interview at all. The president was (again) reportedly frustrated by the piece.
Bannon and newly hired White House Chief of Staff John Kelly “mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day” according to Sander’s official statement. This is yet another testament to speculation of John Kelly’s “no nonsense” attitude; signaling he’s more than willing to remove people of influence to eliminate controversy or distraction.
Sources have already confirmed that Bannon will be returning to Breitbart after leaving his position at the White House. This has the potential to create a rift between the alt-right portion of Trump’s base, and the more moderate “establishment” conservatives in the White House. A friend of Bannon has said that Breitbart is “ramping up for war against Trump”. A war that has apparently already been publicly declared by Breitbart editor Joel B. Pollak who tweeted “#WAR” earlier today.
