Billionaire Trump donor Rebekah Mercer said Steve Bannon took Breitbart News in the “wrong direction.”
Mercer briefly addressed the former executive chairman of Breitbart News during an op-ed she wrote for the Wall Street Journal a little more than a month after Bannon parted ways with the news organization.
“I own a minority stake in Breitbart News (where I have no editorial authority) because I believe it adds an important journalistic voice to the American conversation,” she wrote. “Stephen Bannon, its former chairman, took Breitbart in the wrong direction.”
Under Bannon’s leadership, which was broken up by his time working in President Trump’s campaign and White House, Breitbart News had become a leading defender of the often-controversial Republican and was condemned by its critics for espousing far-rightwing ideals and Bannon himself once said it had become a “platform for the alt-right.”
Mercer said that with Bannon gone, “Breitbart has the opportunity to refine its message and expand its influence.”
Bannon’s departure from Breitbart in early January came after it was reported Mercer cut financial ties with Bannon after a tell-all about the Trump White House, Fire and Fury, revealed he made unflattering comments about the president and his family.
Throughout her wide-ranging opinion piece, Mercer also defended her support of Trump during the 2016 campaign, despite the fact she doesn’t agree with everything he says or tweets.
“I supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign because he promised to tackle entrenched corruption on both sides of the aisle,” Mercer wrote. “I continue to support President Trump, which does not mean I agree with every position he has taken or every thought he has tweeted. I remain hopeful that he will continue striving to fulfill his campaign promises.”
Mercer pushed back on people accusing her of supporting racism and anti-Semitism and for being “anti-science.” She also said she and her family have received “credible death threats” as these “absurd smears have inspired a few gullible, but vicious, characters.”
