Steve Bannon: ‘I’m Not a White Nationalist’

In the interview, Bannon also said that central bank’s policies of negative interest rates would be a boon for the United States economy. “A country is more than an economy”.

The libertarian-leaning lawmaker chalked the calls up to “sour grapes by people who lost” and said he doesn’t not believe Bannon is a racist. It had more than 187,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning. As Trump’s top policy adviser, Bannon serves at his request and is not subject to Senate confirmation or other forms of congressional oversight.

For months Steve Bannon was just sort of lurking in the wings of the Trump campaign, safely far enough so that society could pretend he wasn’t there.

In a question-and-answer session he gave at a conference at the Vatican in 2014 that was unearthed by BuzzFeed News, Bannon downplayed concerns of anti-Semitism and racism in European right-wing nationalist parties, suggesting that bigots were on the fringes of those movements and would fade away. The news service that he oversees is known for its white supremacist undergirding.

In a new interview with theThe Hollywood Reporter’s Michael Wolff, Bannon insists that he isn’t “a white nationalist”, but rather, an “economic nationalist”.

But Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, defended Bannon to reporters.

“I knew that she couldn’t close”, he said.

Bannon’s readership might be middle America, but he’s a member of the elite.

The alt-right movement enthusiastically backed Trump in the 2016 race, with figures like former Ku Klux Klan imperial wizard David Duke expressing their support.

It is doubtful Mr. Bannon or anyone else can control Donald Trump, or will even bother to try. “I have a good relationship with (Vice President-elect Mike Pence) and have spoken with the president-elect briefly on the phone since the election, and I think getting people willing to work with them is really what they’re looking for”.

“I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country”, said Trump’s statement. The ADL says, however, that it has not established that Bannon himself has made anti-Semitic comments. There is no place in the White House for a white nationalist, anti-Semitic misogynist. Meanwhile, President Obama refused to criticize the hire, maintaining his postelection olive branch with his successor. In his interview, he challenged one-dimensional depictions of the alt-right, which the media has repeatedly sought to tie him (and Breitbart) to.

While Bannon may not have the same views as the Breitbart readers and writers, the Washington Post writes, he has definitely been “strategically encouraging people’s hate as a way of inciting them to action”.