White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was ousted this week from the National Security Council, is reportedly locked in some sort of shadow war with the centrist wing of the Trump administration, and it’s a big dramatic mess.
This is how it goes:
In one corner is Bannon and his hardline allies. In the other corner is senior adviser Jared Kushner and his not-so-hardline allies. The first camp thinks the second camp is too weak, and the second camp thinks the first camp is nuts, Axios reported Thursday.
The tension that already existed between the two factions was further exacerbated this week following Bannon’s ouster from the NSC, which came even after he reportedly threatened to quit the White House over it.
However, reports alleging the former Breitbart CEO threatened to leave the administration over the NSC demotion are “100 percent nonsense,” allegedly close associates told Axios Thursday.
“I love a gunfight,” Bannon said.
Alexander Hamilton loved gunfights, too, and that didn’t work out so well.
Joking aside, the tough guy-Hollywood producer talk may work well at a right-wing news website, but this is the White House. It’s the big leagues. This is the most powerful office in the world, and it affects not just Americans, but everyone everywhere.
No one would be happy if they heard a coworker describe the mood of a shared workplace as a “gunfight.” They should be even more displeased to hear a high-ranking White House official describe the environment in the current administration as such.
A somber, serious tone from the White House would be greatly appreciated, as would some sense of order and discipline.
Anonymous officials coming out of the woodwork Thursday to allege Bannon calls Jared a “globalist” and a “cuckservative” behind his back is sort of the opposite of disciplined and ordered.
Bannon associates warning that they’ll come after Kushner is also unhelpful.
“Steve has developed strong and important relationships with some of the most powerful right-leaning business leaders,” a Bannon ally told Axios. “I see some bad press in [Jared’s] future.”
Please, for the sake of everyone both here and abroad, can we have just a little less White House drama? These sort of high-stakes power struggles are great for reality TV ratings, but this is actual reality.
It would be nice if the Trump administration could pull it together for, say, a week, and go for at least seven days without any high-profile members sending out sources to trash their colleagues.
