—
The departure of Steve Bannon from his position as White House Chief Strategist was met with cheers by many who saw his presence in the administration as dangerous. His brand of far-right conservatism and its influence on the president desperately needs to be eliminated from the West Wing; the question remains, does his exit mean it will be?
When Bannon first joined the President’s campaign, almost exactly a year ago, his hiring was evidence that Trump had no intention of toning down his bombastic rhetoric. If anything it was a doubling down on his use of racially charged rhetoric and a complete “screw you” to the Republican Establishment. His supporters, who were already followers of Breitbart News, saw it as another sign that Trump was one of them. Bannon’s style would fit nicely into a campaign that was already running on high octane vitriol.
◊♦◊
Fast-forward a few months and Trump is deep in the weeds. His team is woefully inadequate to lead the nation, reports of constant infighting and daily if not hourly leaks. Bannon, who is jokingly referred to as President Bannon, is struggling to maintain his position as Trump’s key advisor, leading many to believe that it is, in fact, Bannon who is the source of the White House leaks.
With the hiring of John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff, Bannon’s position is immediately brought into question. Kelly who is there for one main reason, to eliminate the leaks, reportedly tells Bannon in July that he needs to go. The once nearly autonomous Bannon is out of the administration he helped to install.
Or is he?
While Bannon may no longer have the ability to walk into the oval office to discuss tactics with the President, one would be foolish to believe their relationship is over. Trump trusts Bannon, he believes in his tactics and to some degree probably feels a sense of loyalty to him. Now in Bannon, he has the same attack dog that he always had but now an even more dangerous one.
◊♦◊
With Bannon back at Breitbart, he has a powerful platform to openly go after those who aren’t getting in line with his agenda. He will also have the attention of the President of The United States, and his ability to push an agenda will become untethered by the constraints of working within Washington.
Millions of Trump supporters will now, more than ever, log onto Breitbart to read the manifesto of Steve Bannon on a daily basis. Breitbart articles that are already being shared via social media as “real news” will become gospels worthy of canonization by hard right conservatives. Bannon’s ability to galvanize the nation could simply become unstoppable.
With his relationship to Trump, he will also still be influencing policy. Just because he is no longer “officially” a member of the administration doesn’t mean he won’t have the President turning to him for council. Bannon and his self-described “killing machine” will be at the service and disposal of Trump.
◊♦◊
With that, there is nothing left to hold Bannon back. He’s untethered and in control of an influential force in the media. He will be able to exact revenge on those who stood in the way of his idea of progress, and destroy those who he believes are screwing up Trump’s presidency. It’s hard to believe someone could have more power outside of the White House than in it, but with Bannon that is exactly the danger, we are now facing.
This will be the problem for Trump moving forward. When he is deciding which jackal to eliminate next, how will their departure impact him? Will they be an ally or liability in the private sector? What do they know and how damaging will it be if they spill it? Every move he is making when it comes to removing staff will have to be weighed carefully. We have an administration that is so wrought with problems and apparent corruption, that cleaning it up may be impossible.
Sleep well America.
—
Photo: Getty Images
The post Cleaning up Trump’s White House Will Prove Difficult appeared first on The Good Men Project.