President Trump is facing growing pressure to fire chief strategist Steve Bannon, with media mogul Rupert Murdoch leading the charge for Bannon’s ouster.
The New York Times reported Monday that Trump has exiled Bannon, and not met with him in more than a week.
Despite his marginalization, Bannon managed to influence Trump’s initial much-criticized statement in response to the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend.
The Times said Bannon, a nationalist who ran Breitbart News, warned Trump to not condemn far-right activists too aggressively because it would upset a part of the president’s political base.
But after the president waited two days to specifically blame white supremacists for the violence at the Charlottesville rally, Trump is receiving new calls for Bannon’s departure, the Times said.
New White House chief of staff John Kelly, is reported to be down on Bannon for installing his own staff outside the chain of command. Some White House officials blame Bannon for leaking negative stories about national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who Trump has publicly defended in recent days.
On Sunday, McMaster deflected questions about Bannon, and refused to say whether he could work with him.
Others outside the White House are agitating for Bannon’s firing, including Murdoch, who has repeatedly urged Trump to act.
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Rupert Murdoch urged Trump to fire Bannon: report https://t.co/YtPk92htsJ pic.twitter.com/dtrE2db7AL
— The Hill (@thehill) August 15, 2017
And the drama continues.
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