Steve Bannon’s New Bully Pulpit

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S o far all the actions he’s taken as president show that Trump’s base has remained loyal to him no matter who has his ear or what decisions he make.

And then there was Steve Bannon.

Late last week President Trump’s chief strategist became the latest casualty in the West Wing following closely on the departures of chief of staff Reince Priebus and communications advisor Anthony Scaramucci whose ephemeral reign lasted all of one week.

Bannon’s ouster had been forecast for months. The lightning rod advisor who drove Donald Trump to the right on the campaign trail and may well have won the election for the New York businessman had developed many enemies inside and outside the White House.

If there was an immediate cause for his ouster it was the fallout from Trump’s attenuated response over the Charlottesville attack in which he seemed to partially excuse the behavior of white nationalists and neo-Nazis. As the person in the White House most identified with that wing of the Republican party Bannon may have been an easy fall guy.