Donald Trump has apparently given Steve Bannon his pink slip.
President Donald Trump on Friday fired Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist in the latest high-level White House shake-up, removing a powerful and controversial figure known for far-right political views, two people familiar with the matter said.
Bannon’s ouster comes with the president increasingly isolated over his comments in the aftermath of white supremacist violence in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville.
A champion of economic nationalism and a political provocateur, Bannon, 63, is a former U.S. Navy officer, Goldman Sachs investment banker and Hollywood movie producer.
Bannon's ejection proves very little. We learned all we needed to know about Trump's loyalty to those close to him in the way he abused elder-racist, Jeff Sessions.
If anything, Bannon could become far more interesting beyond the White House than he ever was within it. Bring on the aftermath. Now, what about Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka?
UPDATE
Did Bannon's failed coup at the State Department trigger his firing?
[Soon to be 'former'] White House chief strategist Steve Bannon rocked Washington Wednesday night with an interview that ran the gamut of political bombshells, from economic war with China to the political knife fights dogging the administration. In the midst of this, Bannon said he wanted to sack a career State Department official close to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Bannon, speaking to the liberal magazine American Prospect in a surprise, off-the-cuff, and potentially accidental interview, boasted of plans to sideline one of Tillerson’s most trusted aides, the current acting envoy for East Asia. “I’m changing out people at East Asian Defense; I’m getting hawks in. I’m getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State,” Bannon said.
UPDATE
Did Bannon's failed coup at the State Department trigger his firing?
[Soon to be 'former'] White House chief strategist Steve Bannon rocked Washington Wednesday night with an interview that ran the gamut of political bombshells, from economic war with China to the political knife fights dogging the administration. In the midst of this, Bannon said he wanted to sack a career State Department official close to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Bannon, speaking to the liberal magazine American Prospect in a surprise, off-the-cuff, and potentially accidental interview, boasted of plans to sideline one of Tillerson’s most trusted aides, the current acting envoy for East Asia. “I’m changing out people at East Asian Defense; I’m getting hawks in. I’m getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State,” Bannon said.
On Thursday morning, Tillerson made a point to shake Thornton’s hand before a meeting with top Japanese diplomats at the State Department.
Was Bannon's attempted coup the last straw? Did Trump's generals, along with Tillerson and perhaps a few others, force Trump's hand? A threatened mass mutiny perhaps? Stay tuned. There's probably a lot more to this story and it'll probably be juicy.
11 comments:
Weeks from now we'll learn that while he may have been fired he'll still have an office in the west wing.
Nothing is beyond the realm of possibility in Trump's White House, is it Dana?
I think Dana's hit the nail on the head. Just because he's no longer on the WH payroll doesn't mean Bannon's not working for Trump.
I wouldn't read too much into that American Prospect interview. Bannon's a media pro. I don't for a second buy the idea that he would call a reporter he's never spoken to before and give an "off-the-cuff, and potentially accidental interview." The interview was designed to stir up "the left" and draw fire away from the boss. If he could get some digs in at Rexxon, who Trump's sidelined since he hired him, so much the better.
Cap
Not only is nothing beyond the realm of possibility in this white house but no amount of gullibility is too great for current US mediacracy.
Bannon out = a victory for the swamp.
A reason to celebrate?
.. to look at Bannon's back story, one might expect he would be a credible coherent civilized human being & citizen. Instead I have the sense of a person who is just one step different than a twisted creature like Christopher Cantwell or Donald Trump. There is nobody home - deep inside. Each with their own particular twist - kink - boast - or threat they present to others. At Breitbart, Bannon really became visible for who he truly was and is.
All three are weaponized thugs in their own special way & they revel in that, just like David Duke. Mike Pence is just another, as is Stephen Miller, as is Ivanka and her dreary Kushner husband. But such a list is seemingly endless. Alex Jones, Manafort, Hannity.. Gorka, Ryan.. and let's not forget the absurdly wealthy enablers & cronies & Mainstream Media sellouts & the 'think' tanks & super pacs
They're all pimping from the same podium.. or pulpit in the artful church of the evangel flim flam.. the same rancid messages, the same bible quoting brand of arrogance. listen to Christopher Cantwell mouth off, then listen to Bannon or Scaramucchi or Kushner.. its the same glib cant & dogma with different lipstick or artificial flavoring. These are highly corrupted people.. and Donald is the current high priest comptroller of corruption & to some extent - temporary political power or clout
I'd argue for firing squad for the lot of them. Seriously. Consequences should have comprehensible meaning. And anyway we've got too many people on the rock anyway.
Expect to see a more virulent BreiBart approach designed to go around Trump but designed to fire up the base. As posted before expect to see another 'angry leader' emerge into the mainstream.
Thus proving that convention has failed and we are now in unknown territory. Congress has been written off as ineffective and useless, Trump has failed to conquer the establishment and therefore complete change is necessary. Watch out for a variant of Civil War.
Anyone cheering Bannon's ouster is pro-globalist, neocon supporter or an idiot, an useful one idiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/18/steve-bannon-fired-donald-trump-jared-kushner-what-next
"The fall of Steve Bannon is a win for the globalists. The loss of Trump’s chief strategist is a triumph for Jared Kushner and the White House’s ‘New York’ faction... Broadly speaking, the New Yorkers form a “globalist-Goldman Sachs” wing that favours international trade deals...When word of his downfall came on Friday, cheers erupted on the floor of the New York stock exchange. It was a clear win for the globalists..."
Something just doesn't add up here. Bannon gives an interview to a left-leaning journal to trash existing administration while still part of it? Could this be another part of his "anchor left and pivot right" strategy? I suspect he's had it with Trump and will now go on to use the media to raise up a new leader to represent the alt right in US politics.
Dump use of "alt-right".
Replace with "alt-reich".
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