Inside the White House, Steve Bannon was a conniving and self-serving politico. Outside the White House, Bannon is just as conniving and just as self-serving. But now he’s a private citizen and, as such, the administration has no business meddling in personnel decisions about his tenure at Breitbart News.
That didn’t stop White House press secretary Sarah Sanders from weighing in. Asked if Bannon should get the boot at Breitbart, the press secretary told the press corps, “I certainly think that it’s something they should look at and consider.” Of course, few people would shed many tears if that outlet followed her advice.
Breitbart has ruined its reputation all by itself — so much so that even Bannon doesn’t think it’s a legitimate journalist outlet, and he’s their CEO. But none of that matters and none of that provides license for the White House to tell a private outlet how to run their business.
More than a throwaway, the comment will directly affect ongoing negotiations inside Breitbart and debates inside the populist base. Bannon has already been abandoned by his mega-donors, ostracized by many of Breitbart’s board of directors, and ridiculed by aging audiences reading the Drudge Report and watching Fox News. The White House comment deliberately fans those flames.
Not quite direct censorship, the Sanders shot at Bannon is still a backhanded assault on the First Amendment. It has as great an effect on chilling free speech as anything else the administration has undertaken.
No one seems to care though, because it’s just Breitbart. But raving populist nationalists have rights too.
The abusive attacks hurled down on Bannon could just as easily be employed against Arthur Gregg Sulzberger at the New York Times or Fred Ryan at the Washington Post. Regardless of the outlet, it’s not acceptable and the White House shouldn’t get a pass.
