White supremacists are praising President-elect Donald Trump for making former Breitbart publisher Steve Bannon his top White House advisor.
Former KKK leader David Duke lauded the Bannon appointment in a recent interview with a white nationalist radio host. Richard Spencer, president of the white nationalist National Policy Institute, said the former Breitbart chief would “push Trump in the right direction.” Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party, also expressed his approval with Bannon being the right hand of the 45th President of the United States.
“Perhaps The Donald is for real,” Suhayda said in a CNN segment.
The news of Bannon’s new job title, in particular the positive reaction of white nationalists, is alarming to the leading watchdog of hate groups in the United States.
“Bannon’s appointment makes a mockery of what Trump said the morning he was elected,” said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, in an interview on MSNBC. “Two weeks after the massacre in Charleston, he talked about how we should raise the Confederate flag and be proud of it.”
“He chose Mr. Bannon because he’s a kindred soul. He chose him because he’s comfortable with the message of Breitbart,” Cohen added.
Trump, to his credit, has disavowed the endorsements of white hate group figures like Duke, calling him a “bad person.”
While President Obama has said he is hopeful that Trump, whom he described as “pragmatic” rather than ideological, he also said in a Monday press conference that he has “concerns” about a Trump administration, particularly as it concerns America’s reputation with its overseas allies and partners.
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