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Although Trump has embraced the racist rhetoric that Stephen Bannon peddled at Breitbart, the divisive pair call it quits.
President Trump might be rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Stephen Bannon, his much-hated chief strategist, is out, according to The New York Times.
The details of Bannon's exit are unfolding. NBC News reports that Bannon's last day is today, and some reports say Bannon had given notice weeks ago. But the bottom line is the White House is once again in chaos. It's still reeling thanks to Trump's statements on Tuesday about the Charlottesville, Va., violence, where he defended the actions of racist protesters and expressed anger at the removal of Confederate statues. The world has condemned Trump's statements, though Bannon reportedly loved them.
There are likely many reasons for Bannon's departure -- which some in the strategist's camp are describing as his own decision. Of course, the Bannon-approved race-baiting rhetoric, a hallmark of Bannon's time running the "alt-right" website Breitbart, has put the presidency in peril. The decision may have also been influenced by a recent interview that Bannon gave in which he contradicted Trump and crudely criticized several White House staffers.
On top of all that, Bannon has been feuding for months with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster. Trump was also reportedly furious that Bannon was often described as "Trump's brain," or "President Bannon."
As a strategist for Trump's campaign and presidency, Bannon helped push xenophobic proposals like the construction of a Mexican border wall and the enforcement of a ban on Muslim immigrants, both of which were dog-whistles to what Hillary Clinton referred to as Trump's "deplorables." It's not clear if Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military sprung from "Trump's brain."
