Stephen Bannon |
Trump named GOP chief Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, and tapped right-wing Breitbart news executive Stephen Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor.
Reince Priebus |
"I am very grateful to the president-elect for this opportunity to serve him and this nation as we work to create an economy that works for everyone, secure our borders, repeal and replace Obamacare and destroy radical Islamic terrorism," Priebus said in the statement.
Bannon, meanwhile, helped transform the Breitbart news site into the leading mouthpiece of the party's anti-establishment wing, which helped fuel Trump's political rise. Ryan has been one of his most frequent targets.
In announcing the appointments, Trump said Priebus and Bannon would work as "equal partners" - effectively creating two power centers in the West Wing. The arrangement is risky and could leave ambiguity over who makes final decisions.
Priebus is a traditional choice, one meant as an olive branch to the Republicans who control both houses of Congress as Trump looks to pass his legislative agenda.
Ryan made no mention of Bannon in that tweet, but earlier told CNN that he didn't know Bannon but "I trust Donald's judgment."
The Bannon pick, however, is anything but safe.
Under Bannon's tenure, Brietbart pushed a nationalist agenda and became one of the leading outlets of the so-called alt-right - a movement often associated with white supremacist ideas that oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values."
John Weaver, a Republican strategist who worked for Ohio Governor John Kasich's presidential campaign, tweeted: "The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant, America."
Bannon, who became Trump's campaign CEO in August, pushed him to adopt more populist rhetoric and paint rival Hillary Clinton as part of a global conspiracy made up of the political, financial and media elite, bankers bent on oppressing the country's working people - a message that carried Trump to the White House.The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America.— John Weaver (@JWGOP) November 13, 2016
Matthew Del Carlo, a Republican strategist, told Al Jazeera that Trump was building a strong coalition.
“He’s bringing various interests in the Republican party together to get an agenda – and he has a very ambitious agenda – through Congress. He won an historic presidential election not seen since the 1920s where not only did we win the executive branch, we also won both houses…obviously he’s bringing in Reince because he needs the House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has a great relationship with Reince, to push his agenda through."
-----Aljazeera
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