Harry Reid, GOP strategists slam Trump's top aide pick
Donald Trump's choice to name Stephen Bannon, his campaign's chief executive officer and the man described as turning a right-wing website into a "white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill," as his top aide in the White House has Democrats and Republicans alike speaking out.
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the pick "signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House. It is easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion, when Trump appoints one of the foremost peddlers of white supremacist themes and rhetoric as his top aide."
While under his tutelage, the Breitbart website published such headlines as "Bill Kristol, Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew," and, two weeks after the mass murder at a black church in South Carolina, "Hoist it high and proud: the confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage." Bannon was also accused by his ex-wife of domestic violence, and telling her he didn't want to send their daughters to "school with Jews" because he "doesn't like Jews."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Republican strategist John Weaver sounded the alarm on Twitter Sunday evening, saying, "The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America." Another GOP strategist, Ana Navarro, called Bannon a "white supremacist, anti-gay, anti-Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude," and warned, "After vomiting, be afraid, America."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign



