Steve Bannon Speaks Out on White Nationalism, Donald Trump Agenda
This week, Donald Trump announced his appointment of Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Bannon was the head of Breitbart News, which is associated with the alt-right, until he joined Trump's campaign earlier this year. Bannon and his news outlet have been accused of white nationalism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia, among other things, and he has admitted to the alt-right political movement being connected to these ideas. Now, Bannon calls himself an economic nationalist and claims that everything in Trump's presidency will be related to jobs. He appears to be preparing for some kind of revolution, and plans to use darkness against his political enemies.
Questions:
- How will the labels associated with Bannon affect public support of him and the Trump presidency in general?
- Is Bannon likely to be able to follow through with his "trillion-dollar infrastructure plan"?
- What are your thoughts on Bannon's statement that "darkness is good," and the examples he uses?
Bannon may help Trump in his strategic plans, however he will only destroy the image of Trump's presidency. His views, which are categorized as alt-right, will only cause minorities to feel ostracized from the government. Furthermore, more liberal people will only protest the actions taken by the government. Overall, this will lead to the image of Trump being tarnished even more.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Trump will likely lose huge support from minorities with the appointment of someone that far right. He already has low support from these groups, and is continuing to further ostracize large portions of the American population.
DeleteI agree with Gray, Trump will likely lose support from minorities because of the way people will view him after supporting Bannon. He is losing support from an already low supporting group of his and this will definitely hurt his image.
DeleteThe future of our nation could be determined by the next four years and Bannon’s statement is worrisome for all aspects of our nation rather is be the economy, immigration, or foreign relations. Many have referred to this election as a turning point because of the fragility of many aspects of our nation. Bannon’s statement could be a sign of a dark future for the United States and the examples used by Bannon depict a tyranny under Donald Trump.
ReplyDeleteIt has become more clear recently as to who Trump will surround himself in office with, as well as what these people plan to get done. Many of Trump's appointments are far-right conservatives, such as Steve Bannon. By appointing people like Bannon, Trump is further alienating the other half of the country that is strongly opposed to his presidency, and therefore is only making the possibility of reuniting the divided country even more far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteI do not think Trump's goal was to unite the country, but rather to unite conservatives as seen through his cabinet picks. It will be interesting to se if his cabinet can accomplish this.
DeleteTrump's choice of Bannon as his chief strategist is quite a controversial one, and will affect American perception of the Trump administration. I find it interesting that in his acceptance speech, Trump pushed for unity and bipartisanship, but Bannon is quite a decisive figure who has made many incendiary remarks against those he will now how have the job of helping Trump work with. It will be interesting to see how Trump contends with the growing issue of polarization during his administration.
ReplyDeleteI believe Brannon's labels will significantly hurt his public help and support. By nominating someone with these labels, Trump is knowingly creating a greater separation between conservatives and liberals. In addition, this will cause a greater rift between those who support and oppose trump. I believe that the smartest decision for Trump is to choose an officer with a moderate viewpoint - not strongly liberal or conservative.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a moderate officer should have been chosen. By choosing such a conservative and publicly accused person for office, the divide between liberals and conservatives will only grow. Furthermore, Trump faces a great deal of opposition and in my opinion, choosing Bannon was not a smart move, upsetting more and more American minorities.
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DeleteOn the other hand, a substantial amount of Trump's followers already consist of white nationalists. Appointing a chief strategist who amplifies these beliefs certainly worked to his benefit. In addition his economic plans, while they might "shake up Washington," are still following the conservative agenda, further appealing to the less liberals out there. A quote I find very interesting is when Bannon says, “I’m not a white nationalist, I’m a nationalist. I’m an economic nationalist.”
ReplyDeleteI actually don't think that these labels will really affect public support because of Trump's own experience. Trump has been labeled many things such as a racist, a sexual offender, a misogynist, and all sorts of other negative terms. However, none of those labels seemed to make to much of a difference outside of those who were name-calling, as Trump won the election by a landslide. Because of Trump's experience with the lack of effect from labels, I doubt that these labels will significantly tarnish Barron and Trump's amount of public support, especially because odds are that the average American doesn't care or know what the chief strategist does.
ReplyDeleteAny hope of creating a more unified country after this divisive election has been tanked by Trumps appointments, who many view as radical and offensive. Anyone who thinks satan is good will probably be a very poor leader. The appointments of Bannon and Sessions have shown that Trump is OK with leaving the country divided, and he has and will most likely continue to completely neglect many of the minority groups that Obama tried so hard to appeal to.
ReplyDeleteTrump's election was disappointing for many Americans because a person who has been quoted saying many racist and sexist was allowed to become the leader of a country. I think many people hoped that his approach or ideals would be balanced out by professional and moderate cabinet nominations. However, with the appointment of Bannon (who is equally as controversial as Trump), I think this hope has been lost. Nevertheless, I don't think those that have supported Trump from the beginning will be alienated in any way because Bannon is simply a reflection of Trump and his values. This nomination will only serve to further the divide that was already present since Trump's election.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Victorya is saying is a super valid point. As devastating as the election as Trump was for many people, there was still a sense of hope for everyone. Trump can't be the only person in the entire government that's making key decisions, right? Well, with the appointment of so many government officials with views that are so alike to Trump's it is almost as if he is. At this point, there isn't much the American people can do other than wait to see what will happen.
DeleteThough it is counterintuitive, Bannon's appointment may actually become significantly less relevant with time and Trump's selection of other cabinet members. Given his promises to use only the "best people", Trump is under substantial pressure not only to appoint the most competent people possible, but those who represent the ideologies of his voter base. However, he loses considerable credibility in some of his more outlandish selections, such as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's prospective appointment to the post of Ambassador to the Russian Federation. The absurdity of some of his other proposals would serve as a major distraction from the Bannon controversy, serious and important though it may be. In all, the media attention paid to Trump's cabinet selections as a whole will probably detract from the negative PR caused by Bannon's appointment, and probably dampen the poor reflection on Trump's legacy caused by Bannon in particular.
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