Stephen Bannon's no longer a part of President Donald Trump's White House crew,videos sex on the beach according to The New York Times, and confirmed by various other outlets on Friday. He was booted by his boss, President Donald Trump.
Later that same day, Breitbart Newsannounced Bannon had returned to the alt-right media company to serve once again as executive chairman, and even chaired Friday night's editorial meeting.
The advisor, brought into Trump's camp during the 2016 presidential campaign, and often credited with its victory (much to Trump's annoyance) was handily the most contentious (read: WTF) appointment Trump made. Bannon's a self-described economic nationalist and alt-right media mogul who seemed to bulldoze his way to Trump's side, and for a brief, weird, terrible moment in time, was actually a member of the National Security Council.
Yeah: That happened. In the last year.
Plenty of people will see Bannon’s ouster as a victory for the older brand of American conservatism over white nationalism. But also at play here is the idea that Bannon could torment the White House from the outside. Early reports suggest he’s returning to the “alt-right” media cesspool from whence he came, Breitbart—a platform he could use to rally hard-line conservatives against the Trump administration.
While not a self-identified white nationalist, the former advisor was perhaps the most official representation of the trolling and memeing "shitlords" of the alt-right, a collection of racists, xenophobes, and white supremacists who know how to use memes to spread their messages from reddit to 4chan to Twitter and beyond.
Bannon's appointment—which didn't require congressional approval—stirred up a storm of criticism, and led to SNL depictions of Bannon as the grim reaper controlling the president.
Bannon's removal brings yet more turmoil to a White House that seems hellbent on replacing its staff like reality TV shows replace their characters. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned in July, which was soon followed by the firing of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, which was then followed by the firing of Anthony Scaramucci, who was named White House communications director but lost the job so quickly he never technically had it.
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