Bannon’s Banishment
The Trump administration continues to grapple with its interal chaos. Last week, Steve Bannon either was fired from or quit (depending on the source) the administration as White House Chief Strategist. This development is very interesting and consequential for President Trump.
A few months ago, I wrote how President Trump and his allies, such as Mr. Bannon, were going to wage war against ‘the political establishment.’ As many know, Mr. Trump and a large number of his voters have little love for Republicans and Democrats in Washington.
Mr. Bannon is one of the leaders of ‘economic nationalism’ movement in present day America, and has no love for establishment politicians. After he left the White House, he immediately returned to Breitbart News as executive chairman, a position he had before joining the Trump campaign in August 2016.
The headlines on Breitbart News are anti-establishment today, focusing on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Wasting no time, Mr. Bannon continues to wage the war from outside the Trump administration.
However, what if Mr. Bannon extends his war to Mr. Trump’s White House? Ben Shapiro, a skilled political analyst and former employee of Bannon’s, predicts that such a war will happen. Mr. Shapiro presents a compelling case, as Mr. Bannon’s recent actions have not been in Mr. Trump’s interest.
Mr. Shapiro concludes with this epic quote: “I said one year ago that Bannon understands the game thrones, you win or die; he doesn’t intend to die. Now that he’s been beheaded by Trump, look for him to try to become the Night King, leaving destruction in his wake.”
You don’t have to be a fan of Game of Thrones to recognize what Mr. Shapiro is saying. Mr. Trump won the election partly due to Breitbart News and their supporters. One of Mr. Trump’s chief allies who happens to run a powerful media organization appears to have turned against him. This is bad news for Mr. Trump, who could begin losing supporters from his (so far) loyal base.
Remembering that Mr. Trump has few allies in the political establishment, the defection of Mr. Bannon is even worse. The president has enemies both inside and outside of Washington. The list appears to be growing larger every day. Do you think Mr. Trump and the establishment can make nice after two years of insults and infighting?
We all know what Mr. Trump has said about the political establishment. Let us briefly review what they think of him.
Jeb Bush received more than a hundred million dollars from GOP elites to become the nominee instead of Mr. Trump. Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has criticized Mr. Trump many times in public. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan basically ignored Mr. Trump during the last month of the campaign. Recently, Senator John McCain voted against Trumpcare, joining two other Senators to kill the bill.
It is almost impossible to imagine President Trump repairing ties with some people he disparaged on the campaign trail, such as Senator McCain. Playing nice with the establishment is a risky move, as it may not work and Mr. Bannon and his supporters could claim Mr. Trump “gave in” and betrayed his supporters.
The grass is not green on the other side for the Trump administration. Mr. Trump and his remaining allies need to recover quickly and stem the bleeding. Chief of Staff John Kelly is essential to Mr. Trump right now. Otherwise, this may be the beginning of the end.
Originally published at theprimacyofpolitics.blogspot.com on August 21, 2017.