President-elect Donald Trump appointed known white nationalist Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist and senior counselor last Sunday. Former KKK leader David Duke says the choice is “excellent” and that Bannon is “basically creating the ideological aspects of where we [the KKK] are going” while American Nazi Party Chairman Rocky J. Suhayda says that the pick shows that Trump might be “for real”.
Bannon’s anti-anyone-not-like-me mindset would be more fitting of the 50s. Allowing him to take on such a powerful position represents a huge step backward for America.
Bannon has a strong history of hate speech. Before joining Trump’s campaign, Bannon was the executive chairman of Breitbart news. Breitbart News is known for volatile, fear-mongering headlines such as “Gay Rights Have Made Us Dumber, It’s Time to Get Back in the closet”, “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy”, and (in response to a mass murder at a black North Carolina church) “Hoist It High and Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims a Glorious Heritage”. He has personally stated that he thinks educated progressive women are “nothing more than a bunch of dykes”. This divisive, ignorant rhetoric paints a clear picture as to the direction in which he plans to attempt to sway the American conscious.
Bannon also takes us back in time with his holocaust-style antisemitism. 2007 sworn court statements reveal that Bannon didn’t want his children to attend a Los Angeles school because it had a large population of Jewish students. These views are reflected in his political following, too. One study showed that at least 31% of Twitter users using #whitegenocide and 62% percent of twitter users using #counterjihad follow Bannon’s Breitbart news account.
More worrisome, Bannon’s hate doesn’t always stop with words. Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery, and dissuading a witness after his wife spoke out against his abuse. The charges were dropped only after the victim, who THE BEAT has chosen not to expose, failed to appear in court (likely at Bannon’s dissuasion). Police reports reveal a relationship in which Bannon was nothing more than a bully. “[REDACTED] told him that maybe he should find another place to live, that she wanted a divorce. [REDACTED] said he laughed at her, and said he would never move out,” the police report says. “[Bannon] reached up to her from the driver’s seat of his car and grabbed her left wrist. He pulled her down, as if he was trying to pull [her] into the car… [REDACTED] said that she started to fight back, striking at his face so he would let go of her. After a short period of time she was able to get away from him.” The report goes on to detail how after escaping, Bannon’s then-wife attempted to dial 911 but was cut short when Bannon “jumped over her and the twins to grab the phone from her.” This history of abusing authoritative positions is a scary sign as to how he may handle himself in office.
America needs to stand up against the selection of such an unfit person for such a powerful position. Someone who has no interest in progressing America has no business serving as an executive leader.
