Now that Steve Bannon has been kicked from the National Security Council, a group of liberal Democrats are urging President Trump to take it a step further and kick the chief strategist out of the White House altogether.
Several of these Democrats from the Congressional Progressive Caucus labeled Bannon a white supremacist and nationalist and blamed him for being a chief architect of Trump’s two travel bans aimed at Muslim-majority countries. They argued that Bannon needs to be shown the door.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Taskforce chairman Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said a resolution she introduced in February condemning Bannon’s “dangerous appointment” to the National Security Council got 75 co-sponsors.
“The elevation of white supremacists to privileged positions in the White House reveals all you need to know about this presidency,” said Lee. “While I am relieved that Steve Bannon’s sick ideology will no longer infect the National Security Council, his continued presence in this administration is alarming to millions of Americans. I urge President Trump to show Steve Bannon the door and purge his administration of dangerous extremists.”
“It’s great that Bannon isn’t on the National Security Council anymore, but he never should have been there in the first place,” said CPC co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who is also deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Let’s not give Donald Trump too much credit. Steve Bannon is a white supremacist still employed at the White House with the ear of the president. He is one of the chief architects of the Muslim ban, the wall, and the proposal to dismantle 19 federal agencies. No person with such disdain for American values and institutions should work in the White House. He must be fired.”
“Someone who stokes racism has no place in any Administration and President Trump should remove Bannon entirely from his White House,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus first vice chair Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.
Back in February, leaders from four minority-focused caucuses, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter to Trump demanding he remove the former Breitbart News executive from the NSC.
