White House chief strategist Steve Bannon defended his controversial interview with a liberal magazine Thursday, saying it took the focus off of President Trump following his remarks on the violence in Charlottesville, Va., and shifted the media’s narrative.
Bannon had a wide-ranging discussion with a writer for the American Prospect, a liberal magazine, during which he said there was no “military solution” to North Korea’s nuclear development, and that “they got us.” During the conversation, which Bannon said he didn’t know was on-the-record, the White House chief strategist said “the economic war with China is everything.”
But in an interview with the Daily Mail on Thursday, Bannon said his remarks “drew fire away from” Trump,” and said he successfully “changed the narrative” with his phone call to the American Prospect writer.
A White House aide told the Daily Mail that Bannon’s interview has been well-received due to his criticisms of white nationalists and Democrats’ focus on racism.
“The president doesn’t like all the Democrats’ focus on racism, and it’s good that Steve mocked it as politically stupid,” the aide said. “Plus, distance from actual racists is a good thing.”
During his discussion with the American Prospect, published Wednesday, Bannon described the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville a “collection of clowns” and a “fringe” element of the far-right.
He also criticized Democrats for their focus on race and for their use of “identity politics,” which he said would harm them in 2020.
“The longer they talk about identity politics, I got ‘em,” Bannon told the American Prospect. “I want them to talk about racism every day. If the Left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”
