White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been called a right-wing firebrand, a tea party favorite, and even a white nationalist for his role in creating the Trump presidency. However, Bannon’s true nature is shaping up to be much different than the hype if recent reports are to be believed.
In a New York Magazine article, journalist Olivia Nuzzi gave a glimpse to a different side of Bannon than what is usually portrayed by the media. She portrays Bannon as a man who has expended very little of his political capital to get nationalist allies into key White House positions, and has grown distant to the right-wing media outlets seeking his guidance.
“He has a lot of friends out on the internet who love him, but we are all still waiting for him to unleash the beast,” said Charles Johnson, editor-in-chief of GotNews.com.
Another source close to the President has even disputed reports that Bannon pushed back against the controversial and unauthorized strikes in Syria against Bashir al-Assad. “He never objected to the bombing in Syria — never. Tells people he did, but that’s a [expletive] lie,” the source told New York Magazine reporters.
Libertarians and conservatives expecting Bannon to be their advocate in the White House have been largely disappointed. Bannon issued a public statement critical of the House Freedom Caucus after a dispute regarding health care legislation, and even went as far to suggest an enemies list of principled conservatives for the President to target for reprisal.
In addition, there have been reports of Bannon growing frustrated with his dwindling role in the White House. Bannon clashed with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, resulting in the President publicly souring on his strategic capabilities. Less than 100 days into the new presidency, any hope for Bannon to be the conservative bellwether of the Trump White House has fallen by the wayside.