Saturday, August 19, 2017

Will Bannon's Departure Change Trump Presidency?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Steve Bannon is a hard hitting conservative.  I don't like his "popular nationalist" talk, however, because nationalism is a leftist idea, not a conservative one.  That said, he's on his way out of the Trump administration, and I am thinking he will be more effective on the outside, than on the inside.  That said, as we see yet another conservative depart from Trump's team, we wonder if the President will be able to hang on to his conservative leanings.

“If there’s any confusion out there, let me clear it up: I’m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents -- on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America,” Bannon told Bloomberg on Friday.

He told The Weekly Standard the country would see a new kind of presidency without him there. “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency. But that presidency is over. It’ll be something else. And there’ll be all kinds of fights, and there’ll be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over.”

Bannon, now that he's free to be the hardcore guy that he is, has returned to Breitbart News, where he resided prior to his brief stint in Washington D.C.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

Breitbart announced Friday that Bannon returned as executive chairman.

That said, Bannon won't go easy on Trump if he's in disagreement with him.  Ben Shapiro said, "He's going to use that power to smash the president when he thinks the president is wrong."

A source close to Bannon told Fox News there is “no way” the outgoing adviser will go to war against Trump himself.  He will “100 percent have POTUS’ back,” the person said.

Bannon told The Weekly Standard he spoke with the president and Chief of Staff John Kelly last week about resigning on Aug. 14, his one year mark working for Trump. But the events in Charlottesville last weekend delayed his departure.

“I’d always planned on spending one year.... I want to get back to Breitbart,” he said.

Bannon said he feels “jacked up” as he returns to the conservative news site.

“Now I’m free,” he said. “I’ve got my hands back on my weapons. Someone said, ‘it’s Bannon the Barbarian.’ I am definitely going to crush the opposition. There’s no doubt.”

He added, “I built a f---ing machine at Breitbart. And now I’m about to go back, knowing what I know, and we’re about to rev that machine up. And rev it up we will do.”

Trump had nice things to say about Bannon, but I believe Bannon's departure will make Trump waver on his conservatism.

“I like Mr. Bannon, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said. “I like him. He’s a good man.”

While Trump still remains in good hands, people like Kelly around him makes the White House look more military, than conservative, an image the Democrats are already trying to slam.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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