https://time.com/5882072/rise-and-fall-of-steve-bannon/
After Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November 2016, some Republicans hoped that the new President would mellow in office and moderate his hardline campaign positions. Steve Bannon saw it as his job to make sure that didn’t happen.
Bannon, a former investment banker and right-wing documentary filmmaker who served as one of Trump’s principal advisers during the final months of his campaign, moved into the West Wing in January 2017, taking over an office at a crucial hallway intersection steps from the Oval Office. His perch allowed him to see nearly everyone visiting then-chief of staff Reince Priebus on one side, and Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner on the other.
Bannon’s official new title was chief strategist, and he saw himself as besieged by ideological rivals trying to slow-walk Trump’s controversial campaign promises to build a border wall, gut trade deals, and ban Muslims from entering the country. His ascent was seen by many as bringing the fringe voices of white nationalists and the alt-right directly into the West Wing. He spent hours on calls with GOP donors and reporters painting Priebus as beholden to the old Republican establishment and Kushner as a Democrat in Trump’s house. He lasted seven months, before being pushed out for leaking about palace intrigue and refusing to cede access and control to Trump’s second chief of staff, John Kelly.
Bannon’s time in the White House may have been short, but it was influential. Within a few weeks of moving in, Bannon helped launch Trump on the hardline policy path he has rarely deviated from since. Bannon, along with senior advisor Stephen Miller, pushed for the hasty freeze of the U.S. refugee program and the halt in immigration from seven majority Muslim countries, moves that were later challenged in court and required revisions. He kept a white board on the wall next to his desk and put green check marks next to actions that weakened international trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and North American Free Trade Agreement.
I said this about Obama and I think it's something to think about with Trump.
ReplyDeleteCandidate Obama had some concerning views about Israel but during the campaign he did try to present a balanced pro-Israel position, even visiting the country and taking time to appreciate the dangers it faced. But President Obama was attacked by right-wing Jewish groups in Israel and the US the minute he took office. Remember the Jewish papers and their "Haman is in the White House!" headlines? I wondered if that's why he became so cold to Israel. After all he'd done to try and be sympathetic, if that was the response then why care about the place?
Yes, Trump has his flaws but the response to both Candidate Trump and President Trump has been over-the-top hysteria from the moment he became the Republican nominee. Just as bad as Hitler? Seriously? And I wonder now how much of his recklessness is because he knows that even if he's balanced and listens to the other side, the other side will still respond psychotically so why be nice?
profound psychological fantasy - absolutely unrelated to any known facts
ReplyDelete