Trump pushes out strategist Steve Bannon
Conservative viewed by many as president’s connection to his base
Steve Bannon, the blunt-spoken and divisive strategist who rose from Donald Trump’s conservative campaign to a top White House post, was pushed out by the president Friday, capping a turbulent seven months that now has seen the departure of much of his senior staff.
The former leader of conservative Breitbart News and a favourite in the farther-right portions of the Republican party, Bannon has pushed Trump to follow through on some of his most contentious campaign promises including his travel ban for some foreigners and his decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.
Just seven months in, Trump has forced out his hardline national security adviser, his chief of staff, his press secretary (whose last day will be Aug. 31) and two communications directors — in addition to the FBI director he inherited from Barack Obama.
Bannon’s departure is especially significant since he was viewed by many as Trump’s connection to his base of most-committed voters and the protector of the disruptive, conservative agenda that propelled the celebrity businessman to the White House.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow if Steve is gone because you have a Republican West Wing that’s filled with generals and Democrats,” said former campaign strategist Sam Nunberg, shortly before the news of Bannon’s departure broke. “It would feel like the twilight zone.”
From Breitbart, there was a dramatic one-word warning.
“#WAR,” tweeted Joel B. Pollak, a senior editor at large at the news site.
Indeed, Bannon’s nationalistic, outsider conservatism served as a guiding force for Trump’s rise to office. Without him, Trump’s agenda is left in the hands of more moderate advisers, including his son-inlaw, his daughter and his economic adviser Gary Cohn, whom Bannon has slammed as “globalist.”
On the other hand, some at the White House have suggested his influence was often exaggerated — perhaps as a result of behind-thescenes self-promotion.
Trump spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Bannon and chief of staff John Kelly had agreed that Friday would be Bannon’s last day. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best,” she said in the only statement from the White House.
A combative and unorthodox Republican, Bannon was a key adviser in Trump’s election campaign, but he has been a contentious presence in a White House divided by warring staff loyalties. He repeatedly clashed with other top advisers, most notably Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and has drawn the ire of the president himself.
One person close to Bannon said he had offered his resignation to Trump on Aug. 7. It was to go into effect a week later, the one-year anniversary of when he officially joined Trump’s presidential campaign. But the departure was delayed after the violence in Charlottesville, Va., said the person, who spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.