Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:32 pm
Democratic Senator Al Franken (D-MN) isn’t going to stay silent in the face of Donald Trump’s announcement that he would be appointing hate-monger Steve Bannon as the Chief White House Strategist, saying Bannon should not be allowed to hold any position in the White House.
Franken issued a statement quoting Bannon to make his case, “‘…the women that would lead this country would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children. They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England.’ ‘Fear is a good thing.’ ‘…turn on the hate…’
“These are just a few of the things that Steve Bannon— a white nationalist who for years has stoked hatred—has said over the course of his career,â€Â Franken said. “In his victory speech, President-elect Trump pledged that he would be a president for all Americans. But the decision to name Bannon as his Chief Strategist is directly at odds with that pledge. Bannon’s alt-right website Breitbart News has provided a platform for racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism. For example: Bannon published an article two weeks after the shooting in Charleston, where nine African-Americans were massacred, titled ‘Hoist it High and Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims a Glorious Heritage.’
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“White supremacists have made it clear that they see Bannon as their advocate in a Trump Administration, which is not only disturbing, but also dangerous for millions upon millions of people in Minnesota and across the country. Steve Bannon should not be allowed to hold any position in the White House, let alone one that would allow him to make critical decisions about how our country is run. If he truly seeks to unite America, Donald Trump can start by finding someone else to advise him. And do it immediately.â€
Al Franken has always fought for the people, which is his job as a Senator. (You might not know that based on how many of our Senators have been refusing to do their own jobs until they get their way.) Franken, like so many in this country, is horrified by the rise of the neo-Nazi, white supremacist hate-mongers littering the Trump entourage.
It’s one thing to retweet neo-Nazis while running for president, it’s another to put a white supremacist with an anger issue in charge of strategy at the White House. Neither is okay, but the latter is very dangerous and simply should not be accepted in a democracy.
This is what Republicans have built. They are gloating and preening right now, but even the most out of touch person can see the inherent danger to their own party within the rickety power structure they’ve built on hate. They are no longer the party of ideas and intellectualism – but now the party of Steve Bannon and Donald Trump.
The party of ignorant hate. The party of destructive rage. The party of know-nothings who scorn facts.
The party leading us down the path to Hell. Sure, they’re in power, but it’s not much to be proud of right now.
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