On January 20, 2017, the United States will welcome a new president into the White House. Along with the new president will be the new presidential administration, a new group of people who will be tasked with essentially running the country. The new administration will consist of thousands of new federal employees chosen by the incoming president.
President-Elect Trump has only just begun considering appointees for these numerous Executive Branch positions. However, he has already made up his mind on some key appointments. One of these is Stephen "Steve" Bannon as the White House Chief Strategist. Bannon is not only a conservative political figure and media executive, but also a misogynist, a racist, an antisemite, an Islamophobe, a homophobe, a xenophobe, and just an all-around bad guy.
These are all very harsh accusations, which are not made lightly but should be taken seriously. The appointment of Steve Bannon embodies everything that the Trump campaign adamantly refused to admit represented them. For a year and a half the Trump campaign and its supporters have insisted, "Trump is not racist" and made other similar statements, but the Bannon appointment flies in the face of all of that.
But who exactly is Steve Bannon? Bannon was born in Norfolk, Virginia to a family of working-class Democrats, though his current political ideology is the complete opposite. Very well-educated, he holds degrees from Virginia Tech, Georgetown, and Harvard. Bannon also served in the United States Navy from 1976-1983 as a Surface Warfare Officer, for which he deserves a tremendous amount of respect.
Steve Bannon is now most known for his role at Breitbart News, a socially, economically, and politically conservative website. Previously serving on the board of the Breitbart, Bannon became executive chairman after the death of founder Andrew Breitbart. Under the leadership of Steve Bannon, Breitbart only shifted to becoming more white nationalistic and closer to the alt-right, a movement of extreme conservative thought in the United States.
Some of the headlines published while Bannon was executive chairman include "The West Vs. Islam Is The New Cold War–Here's How We Win," "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy," "Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew," "Lesbian Bridezillas Bully Bridal Shop Owner Over Religious Beliefs," "The Solution To Online 'Harassment' Is Simple: Women Should Log Off," and my personal favorite "There's No Bias Against Women In Tech, They Just Suck At Interviews."
All of this was in the public sphere, but the happenings of Bannon's private life may also be of concern. Bannon has been married three times and has been divorced every single time. During his second divorce, his ex-wife revealed disturbing aspects of Bannon's behavior behind closed doors. According to his ex-wife, Bannon was reluctant to send his daughters to the Archer School for Girls, because of the amount of Jews at the school, noting that Jews raise their children to be "whiny brats." Maybe even more seriously, his ex-wife also accused him of physical abuse, leading Bannon to be charged with domestic violence and battery.
Opposition to the Bannon appointment is widespread across party lines and in both the public and private sector. Congressional Democrats were quick to denounce Steve Bannon, with the highest ranking Democratic members in both chambers, Senator Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi, making public statements saying, "White supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House" and "There must be no sugarcoating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the Trump administration" respectively.
Even Republicans are criticizing the Bannon appointment, including GOP strategist John Weaver who said, "The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office" and Republican political analyst Todd Domke who stated, "Bannon is on his way to the White House, and he does not represent a check on Trump’s darker impulses." Even outside the political world, organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and People for the American Way. Private citizens are even calling their Congressional representatives and senators to pressure President-Elect Trump into rescinding his appointment, though it would be very unlikely for him to do so.
President-Elect Trump said on the campaign trail that he wished to be a president who represented "all Americans," but the appointment of Steve Bannon is completely contradictory of this goal. A man like Steve Bannon belongs nowhere near the Oval Office.
