The next few weeks promise to be an unending horror as Donald Trump slowly unveils the composition of his presidential cabinet and inner circle – the men and women tasked with advising him and deploying his policy programme. We’ve got the first two cabs off the rank today, and if they’re any indication, this is going to be hell.
Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus, who was never known for being an enthusiastic Trump backer during the primaries, will be chief of staff. This might assuage some concerns that Trump is going to go wild straight out of the gate, as Priebus is a pretty down-the-line Republican who is likely to pursue a down-the-line Republican agenda. Which, I stress, is not a good agenda for anyone but the white and wealthy. But nonetheless.
But if you were kinda reassured by that pick, don’t worry! It gets worse: the role of chief strategist and senior counselor goes to campaign CEO and executive chairman of Breitbart News, the hub for alt-right and reactionary news during the election – Steve Bannon.
Much noise has been made about Bannon’s goals for the Republican Party – namely a desire to turn it from an elite, liberal conservative institution into a populist, white nativist party. He was forced to deny allegations from his ex-wife that he had made anti-Semitic remarks while they were married. As The Guardian reported:
In a sworn court declaration following their divorce, Piccard said her ex-husband had objected to sending their twin daughters to an elite Los Angeles academy because he “didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews”.“He said he doesn’t like Jews and that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiney brats,’” Piccard said in a 2007 court filing.
Whether or not it’s true, the guy runs Breitbart: the site dedicated to unifying America with a vertical specifically dedicated to ‘Black Crime’.
Trump announced the pair in a statement. “Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again,” Trump said in the release.
We don’t have our fingers crossed for good outcomes here.
Source: CNN.
Photo: Getty Images / The Washington Post.
