Steve Bannon

White House Strategist Steve Bannon Sets Up Fight With News Media

... He said the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while. FOLKENFLIK: Bannon didn't stop there. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). EARHARDT: The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States. FOLKENFLIK: The eternal campaign, as though it never ended. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). JEFF ZUCKER: It is incredibly inappropriate to try to delegitimize media and journalism the way they're doing it. FOLKENFLIK: CNN chief Jeff Zucker spoke last night at an event at the University of Chicago. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). ZUCKER: You know, listen; this is the most contentious relationship between an administration and the media since Richard Nixon. If they want to have that kind of relationship, OK. You know, that's certainly their prerogative. FOLKENFLIK: Zucker said Bannon was trying to knock the press off balance. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED ...

Trump's Immigration Fiasco Might Be More Premeditated Than We Think

... retaliation, and failed to withstand the obvious federal court challenge on its very first day. Given the despicable nature of this effort, I’m happy it has become a political fiasco. It also makes me wonder how the Trump administration will execute the basic functions of government. This astonishing failure reflects our new President’s contempt for the basic craft of government. This sure seems to be the case. For the barely believable story of just how incompetent the whole exercise was, check out this CNN story. It will leave your jaw on the floor. And yet, there's also one tidbit that makes me wonder if the chaos attending the rollout was quite as unintended as we think. Friday night, DHS arrived at the legal interpretation that the executive order restrictions applying to seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen — did not apply to people who with lawful permanent residence, generally referred to as green card holders. The White House overruled that guidance overnight, according to officials familiar ...

On Facts, Steve Bannon And Trump War On Journalism

... fear or favor” to invoke the Times’ classic slogan. I point this out even though I’d insist that opinion writers have as much of an obligation to fact as anyone else. From the point of view of readers and viewers, the world is messier than it was because television outlets regularly offer panels of commentators mixing reporters, columnists and political consultants. Citizens can be forgiven for not knowing anymore who is who. My worries are not about the opinion world. It will thrive under Trump, assuming we all maintain our liberties. What concerns me is that Trump, Bannon, press secretary Sean Spicer and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway will have some success in fuzzing up distinctions that are vital to open debate. The obvious one has been exposed with Conway’s memorable coinage, “alternative facts.” No, facts are facts are facts. Alternative facts are lies, untruths or distortions. When confronted with untruths, journalists have one and only one choice: to call them what they are. ...

With National Security Council Shakeup, Steve Bannon Gets A Seat At The Table

... making that involve life and death for the people in uniform will not be tainted by any political decisions," Bolten remembered. Article continues after sponsorship. Steve Bannon, right, joins President Trump and national security advisor Michael Flynn in the Oval Office on Saturday during a call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption. toggle caption. Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Steve Bannon, right, joins President Trump and national security advisor Michael Flynn in the Oval Office on Saturday during a call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Before joining Donald Trump's inner circle during the 2016 campaign, Bannon was the head of Breitbart News, a far-right media outlet that has promoted conspiracy theories and is a platform for the alt-right movement, which espouses white nationalism. Bannon was extremely influential during the first week of the administration – he is said to be part of a small group inside the White House driving the flurry of executive actions this week, Mara Liasson has reported. Some of those orders have ...

No, Steve Bannon, The Media Won’t Keep Its Mouth Shut

... ( Cook Political Report ). Confusion over websites. A "chaotic transition of power" has "led to confusion over what government websites can display, what employees are allowed to do with publicly funded work and growing social-media activism aimed at rebutting President Donald Trump." ( The Wall Street Journal ). How did the press miss this. Amid all the reporting about Trump meeting with Republicans at a GOP confab in Philadelphia, this fell by the wayside. "Dismissing concerns that the controversial interrogation method constituted torture, President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that waterboarding does not even come close to the excruciating torment he himself experiences at every waking moment.". Well, at least one outlet reported this. Oh, yeah, it's The Onion. Well, I merely face the challenge of chauffeuring kids to soccer and basketball game and practices tomorrow and Sunday. Piece of cake. Have a good weekend. Corrections? Tips? ...

The Chaos Presidency, Brought To You By Steven Bannon

... are corrupt. Even the integrity of our electoral system is open to question. It seems reasonable to believe that Bannon is encouraging Trump to take actions that now serve to delegitimize government itself, for example by selecting cabinet members without experience or expertise such as Ben Carson (HUD), or those who are openly hostile to the missions of their own agencies, i.e., Scott Pruitt (EPA) and Betsy De Vos (Dept. of Ed). In this light, the “right” amount of chaos seems like a useful device for a revolutionary who has found himself on the inside. Liberals have gone (justifiably) ballistic over what Rudy Giuliani admitted is a Muslim ban  by another name. Those paying less attention will just see the chaos, a chaos that to them looks partisan. There’s that Elizabeth Warren again. ...

Trump's Chief Strategist Fashions Himself An Evil Nerd

... favorably to Darth Vader , and it wasn’t the first time. Bannon — a fairly reclusive figure who doesn’t often give interviews to media outlets other than Breitbart, the white nationalist website used to serve as the chief executive for — spoke to the Times on Thursday. The 63-year-old mostly used the interview to criticize the media, saying the press should “keep its mouth shut,” but he also aligned himself with the Dark Side and shouted out Middle Earth. On the telephone, Mr. Bannon spoke in blunt but calm tones, peppered with a dose of profanities, and humorously referred to himself at one point as “Darth Vader. He said, with ironic relish, that Mr. Trump was elected by a surge of support from the working class hobbits and deplorables.”. Bannon has done this before. In November, he told The Hollywood Reporter that “darkness is good” before listing some of his role models. “Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s power.”. It’s also not ...

Trump Orders Isis Plan, Gives Bannon Role In Revamped National Security Council

... States and Russia, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin. They said they would arrange an in-person meeting, but Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency that the two presidents did not specifically talk about a lifting of the sanctions the Obama administration imposed against Russia over Russian interference in the U. S. presidential election and Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine. Eliminating the sanctions is a priority for Moscow, but Trump is under pressure in the United States to maintain them and said Friday that he thought it was premature to consider lifting them. The White House described the conversation as "a congratulatory call" initiated by Putin. "The positive call was a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair," read a statement from the White House. "Both President Trump and President Putin are hopeful that after today's call the two sides can move quickly to tackle terrorism and other important issues of mutual concern.". This was one of five conversations Trump had Saturday with world leaders. Seeking to cultivate a personal rapport, Trump spoke with the ...