Steve Bannon was gleeful that “globalists” were rushing to condemn President Trump after his comments Tuesday on the violent Charlottesville rally.
The news outlet Axios reported Wednesday Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, viewed the president’s much-criticized press conference at Trump Tower as a “defining moment” that rewarded “his people” in favor of “globalists.”
“Steve was proud of how [Trump] stood up to the braying mob of reporters” in the Tuesday press conference, an unnamed source told Axios.
Bannon, a nationalist who formerly ran Breitbart News, warned Trump to not condemn far-right activists too aggressively because it would upset a part of the president’s political base.
However, Axios reports Bannon was not meaningfully involved in Trump’s response to Charlottesville in which the president said there were “fine people” among the individuals protesting with white supremacist groups in Charlottesville.
Trump also resorted to blaming “both sides” for violence at the rally, including counter-protesters, some of them representing liberal groups.
Trump is reportedly considering firing Bannon because of his vivid public profile. Some in the White House have also blamed Bannon for leaking negative stories about national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
On Tuesday, Trump said Bannon is a “good man” and “not a racist.”
“We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” Trump said.
