President-elect Donald Trump has made his first two key personnel appointments; Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff, and Breitbart news executive and known White Nationalist Stephen Bannon as chief strategist.
Priebus is considered by many Republicans as a safe ‘insider‘ with whom they can work. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and GOP Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted reaction:
Meantime, a Tea Party group is warning against a DC insider to run Trump’s White House. Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund officials said in a statement to CNN;
No Washington insider, regardless of who it is, should serve as President Trump’s chief of staff,” Martin said. “Appointing Reince Priebus (or any other DC establishment insider) would make it more difficult, not less, for President Trump to achieve the change the people voted for. It’s time to drain the swamp — not promote insiders beholden to the Washington establishment who helped create it.
Meantime, in reaction to Bannon as Trump’s choice as chief strategist, outspoken Republican strategist Ana Navarro tweeted:
Oh, hell! White supremacist, anti gay, anti Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named Senior Strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America. https://t.co/cZvP3vccjS
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) November 13, 2016
Other Twitter reaction:
Donald Trump tells racists to "stop it" and then hires Steve Bannon.https://t.co/SdWXO9CUPk
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) November 14, 2016
Steve #Bannon: Who is Donald #Trump's new far-right chief strategist who gives a voice to #America's s bigots https://t.co/MOD2jNvG2B
— samia mebarki (@samiamebarki1) November 14, 2016
When asked about Trump’s choice of Priebus and Bannon, President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” that campaign CEO Steve Bannon will have a “big role” in the Trump administration.
Well, they will both have big roles in a Trump administration, as well as they should. It was a very small core senior team. Probably less than ten people all told. I’m sure that everyone will be very important to the president moving forward. I will say this though, I think having worked with him and known him, Steve Bannon in this particular campaign was the general. And he is much more the Goldman Sachs managing partner and the naval officer than people realize. That is a big part of his background.
From the Democratic side of the isle the spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday that Trump has ensured “White supremacists will be represented at the highest levels” in the White House with his appointment of Steve Bannon to a top role.
On Friday, in Reid’s first comments since the election, he called Trump “a sexual predator who lost the popular vote.”
Source: AURN
