If President-elect Donald Trump really wants to "bind the wounds of division," Republican consultant Ana Navarro thinks he shouldn't have started out by appointing people like Breitbart News' Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. "I think that the appointments he makes early on are the first signal he sends about what kind of president he is going to be," Navarro, who has been a strong critic of Trump's, said Monday on CNN's New Day. "Many of us are torn by the utter disdain that we have for candidate Donald Trump and the utmost respect we have for the office of the presidency of the United States, and we want to give this guy [a] chance."
As much as she wants to "extend the olive branch," Navarro said that's hard to do when Trump names as chief strategist someone like Bannon, who has "such a track record and such a reputation for being controversial" and "for leading the hunting season against Republicans." Navarro also noted that Bannon's right-wing website Breitbart News is known to publish "anti-Semitic, anti-Hispanic, anti-everything type of headlines."
Navarro did, however, applaud Trump's choice of RNC chair Reince Priebus for chief of staff. Priebus "is a normal guy,” Navarro said. "He doesn't assault women, he is not anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant. At this point, I'll take him and I'll love him. It was like you saw Donald Trump appoint Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [Sunday] night."
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Catch the rest of Navarro's thoughts on Bannon and Priebus below. Becca Stanek
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