Steve Bannon says reporters should not report


President Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear he is no fan of the media, but his chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon, took the war on the press a step further in an interview published by The New York Times on Thursday. "The elite media got it dead wrong, 100 percent dead wrong," Bannon, the former executive chair of Breitbart News, said of the election, dubbing it "a humiliating defeat that they will never wash away, that will always be there."
Bannon also claimed that the media is "the opposition party" of the new administration:
"The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile," Mr. Bannon said during a telephone call."I want you to quote this," Mr. Bannon added. "The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States." [The New York Times]
Bannon's demands are not likely to be heeded, as it is the media's job not to keep its mouth shut.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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