House GOP leaders okay with Trump installing a white nationalist in the West Wing
Yesterday morning, in a tense interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the ludicrous claim that Americans afraid of a Trump presidency should “rest assured” that “America is a pluralistic, inclusive country.” Not three mutes passed before Ryan was given the chance to actually back his claim up, but like clockwork he refused to actually stand up and do anything to make those millions of Americans rest easier, instead dodging a question about white nationalist Steve Bannon, President-Elect Trump’s newly-installed Senior Advisor in the White House.
TAPPER: A minute ago, you were talking about how Donald Trump, the president-elect, expressed concerned to you he wanted to — or expressed a desire to you that he wanted to unify the country. On that note, I want to turn to staffing at the Trump White House. A lot of people, including many conservatives, are concerned that Steve Bannon, who is the CEO of the Trump campaign and the chief executive of Breitbart News, that he used Breitbart News to, in their view, the view of conservatives, the view of Republicans, to mainstream white supremacist views, anti-Semitic views, racist views.
Do you have any concerns about Steve Bannon being in the White House?
RYAN: No, I don’t have concerns. I have never met the guy. I don’t know Steve Bannon, so I have no concerns.
I believe — I trust Donald’s judgment. I think he’s going to pick who he thinks will best serve him. And I’m sure we will work well with whoever his chief of staff is, whoever his staff is.
Similarly today, when asked in a contentious press briefing, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy repeatedly defended Bannon, even when presented with examples of anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, racist, pro-white nationalist commentary that Bannon promoted while at Breitbart. Instead of condemning Bannon, McCarthy insisted that Trump has the “right to select the team.”
“If Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy have any intention of doing the right thing and using the power of their leadership to protect the American people from the divisive, racist forces within the Trump movement, they certainly haven’t shown it with their failure to speak out against Steve Bannon’s appointment,” said Christie Stephenson of the DCCC. “Paul Ryan’s claim that the American people should ‘rest assured’ rings utterly hollow when he himself refuses to stand up against the installation of a dangerous white nationalist mere feet from the Oval Office.”