Buh-bye, Bannon!

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Just thought I’d put up a place for folks to discuss this. I’ll try to join you later, but I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment:

Trump gets rid of Stephen Bannon, a top proponent of his nationalist agenda

President Trump on Friday dismissed his embattled chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, an architect of his 2016 general election victory, in a major White House shake-up that follows a week of racial unrest, according to multiple administration officials.

Trump had been under mounting pressure to dispense with Bannon, who many officials view as a political Svengali but who has drawn scorn as a leading internal force encouraging and amplifying the president’s most controversial nationalist impulses.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a Friday afternoon statement to reporters: “White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

Some White House officials also said Friday they expect some of Bannon’s allies inside the administration to exit with him. Bannon works closely with a number of White House officials, including national security aide Sebastian Gorka and assistant Julia Hahn….

This raises a lot of questions for me, such as, “Does this mean we can try to resurrect TPP?” and “Will we stop giving the world the finger on the Paris accord?” And others. But I’ll let y’all get the ball rolling…

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6 thoughts on “Buh-bye, Bannon!

  1. Karen Pearson,So

    What it means is that Trump is trying to placate all those who think he should be more clear in rejecting fascism and racism, but he wants to do it without having to say anything that will alienate his shrinking base. In his mind he’s thrown a bone to those who don’t like to see folks running around in sheets or Nazi uniforms. Haven’t you noticed? Every time an issue comes up he fires the person he perceives as “causing” it. Too bad he can’t fire himself.

  2. bud

    This is a non-firing firing. Trump can and probably still will consult with Bannon by phone. The alt-right agenda goose steps onward.

  3. Mark Stewart

    MAGA

    I assume Stephan Miller will be gone as well by next Friday. I’d like to see tomorrow.

    But I agree, this is just Trump doing whatever to distract. He believes personally the perspective he shared in his Tuesday press conference. That’s him. Words before thoughts… intolerance before judgement.

  4. Brad Warthen Post author

    Well, for now, this shouldn’t be seen particularly as Trump doing this or that. According to the story cited above:

    The decision to fire Bannon was made by Kelly, officials said. It came after almost exactly three weeks on the job as chief of staff, a position in which he was given unilateral power to overhaul the West Wing staff in an effort to staunch warring factions, aides and advisers going rogue, and repeated leaks to the news media.

    “This was without question one man’s decision: Kelly. One hundred percent,” one senior White House official said. “It’s been building for a while.”…

    Kelly is desperately trying to run the White House as it ought to be run.

    That’s something I’m torn about.

    On the one hand, the nation can’t afford for the White House to be in utter chaos.

    On the other, we can’t afford for people to start getting the idea that it’s OK for Donald Trump to be president because “Look, things are starting to seem normal at the White House!”…

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