Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:32 pm
New York Daily News writer Shaun King reminded us yesterday that “David Duke just made his public statement on how proud he is of the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trump’s Chief Strategist.” The rest of us should be as angry and terrified as the so-called “alt-right” – and let’s be clear, this means racist anti-Semites – is happy.
Harry Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson expressed the Nevada senator’s feelings about the appointment in a statement issued last night and included some background links:
“President-elect Trump’s choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide 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. Bannon was ‘the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill,’ according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Sworn testimony in a court case alleged that Bannon committed violent domestic abuse and stated that he ‘didn’t want the girls [his children] going to school with Jews.’ And in Bannon’s time running Breitbart, the website published headlines such as:
“Bill Kristol, Renegade Jew”
[Breitbart – 5.15.16]
“Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy”
[Breitbart – 12.08.15]
“The Solution To Online ‘Harassment’ Is Simple: Women Should Just Log Off”
[Breitbart – 7.05.15]
Background
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Stephen Bannon was the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill https://t.co/IyJ6ET2vaS
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) November 13, 2016
Sworn testimony:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/trump-campaign-ceo-bannon-complained-jews-daughters-school-article-1.2767615
Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire: I Know Trump’s New Campaign Chairman, Steve Bannon. Here’s What You Need To Know.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/8441/i-know-trumps-new-campaign-chairman-steve-bannon-ben-shapiro#
Kellyanne Conway, warning Harry Reid to be “very careful” after he criticized Trump last week, said, “I find Harry Reid’s public comments and insults about Donald Trump and other Republicans to be beyond the pale.” Apparently, appointing a white supremacist and anti-Semite to a White House post is somehow not beyond the pale.
Or a president suing his political opponents to prevent them from speaking out against them. What part of Democracy does Trump not understand? O where to begin?
As The Daily Beast‘s Olivia Nuzzi quipped last night, “If Karl Rove was Bush’s brain, Steve Bannon is Trump’s psychosis.” There is no way to make this sound less awful than it is, and it is pretty awful. Probably worse than we know or can imagine.
As Jentleson said, “President-elect Trump’s choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump’s White House.” Welcome to the American Reich.
CNN’s Ana Navarro put it another way: “He’s making it harder and harder by the minute. Torn between my utter disdain for Trump and my utmost respect for Office of the Presidency.”
If you weren’t sure yet, America, if we were in for a rough ride, we’re in for a rough ride. Get those safety pins and wear them with pride and in solidarity. We’re going to need them and the hope and love they represent.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
