Earlier this week, I made the point that we should stop thinking of Steve Bannon as a Machiavellian genius. Machiavellian geniuses don’t get outmaneuvered by men like Jared Kushner, which is exactly what’s happening to Steve Bannon. Last week, newspapers and political outlets were full of stories about the “war” between Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner and it was said that Bannon was close to being fired. Reportedly, Emperor Baby Fists ordered Kushner and Bannon to work out their differences over the weekend. But this week, it seems like Baby Fists is sort of over Bannon, especially judging by Baby Fists’ comments to the NY Post this week. So, we’re still talking about whether Bannon is about to get fired.
On Wednesday, the White House chief strategist cycled in and out of the Oval Office for meetings with President Trump and took a seat in the front row of the East Room for the afternoon visit of NATO’s secretary general, flanked by some of the very advisers with whom he has been feuding.
But for Bannon, the day’s routine obscured the reality that he is a marked man — diminished by weeks of battles with the bloc of centrists led by Trump’s daughter and son-in-law and cut down by the president himself, who belittled Bannon in an interview with the New York Post.
The president’s comments were described by White House officials as a dressing-down and warning shot, though one Bannon friend, reflecting on them Wednesday, likened Bannon to a terminally ill family member who had been moved into hospice care.
The WaPo article goes on like that for a while, with the “Bannon factions” within the White House worried that they are losing power and losing influence over Trump, especially as Trump has made some public noise in the more moderate/centrist direction. As for Ivanka and Jared’s influence – they seem to be “winning” over the President this week – sources claim that Jared and Precious Ivanka are merely doing what Bigly wants them to do, that he is driving their work. Also, Jared and Ivanka see Bannon as “too inclined to want to burn things down and blow things up.” Derp. That’s what you get when you make a Nazi nihilist the White House chief strategist.
Interestingly enough, Ivanka and Jared – and Ivanka’s brothers – seem to be thinking long-term, post-presidency, as well. The sources speaking to WaPo on behalf of the Trump kids basically say that the kids are worried that their father’s presidency is going to hurt the Trump brand and business, and they want to help rescue their father’s presidency just to further the business (not for the good of the country or anything). One source says, “The fundamental assessment is that if they want to win the White House in 2020, they’re not going to do it the way they did in 2016, because the family brand would not sustain the collateral damage. It would be so protectionist, nationalist and backward-looking that they’d only be able to build in Oklahoma City or the Ozarks.” Precious Ivanka is banking on getting her father to “pivot” to a centrist message so that they can build hotels in cities with cool people, basically.
As for whether or not Steve Bannon gets fired… well, it’s not like he’s the only Deplorable in the White House, you know? I don’t think it matters much. Donald Trump is still the guy who hired a white supremacist to be his chief strategist.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
It would be interesting if Bannon left The White House, went back to Breitbart and turned on Trump.
Pass the popcorn because something like that will happen.
Oooooh yeahhhhhh! That would be delicious.
Particularly if he is going to be a more ‘moderate’ or ‘centrist’ president. A lot of his most ardent supporters would hate that and Breitbart could really rile them up.
It all depends on what the Mercers want, and if they plan to turn on Trump.
I can see that happening if he gets fired and cut off from the power of the WH. And as for the Mercers (and I don’t know that much about them) its only a matter of time before they turn on Trump as aren’t they very conservative?
interesting? more like AWESOME!
man, Bannon looks SO unwell.
Did you read on the Rogue Sr. White House Advisor on Twitter that Trump ate 3 buckets of KFC before noon right after hearing that Flynn wanted immunity. And that he has gained 63 pounds since election day, which has the WH doctor worried.
Sad.
Let’s all send him some more KFC and Big Macs!!!
Trump is even more of an idiot than I thought if he sets Bannon free. His base is deplorables, Bannonites. If the Breitbart crowd turns on him he won’t replace his base by being a middle of the road Republican especially since he doesn’t even have the basic skills to do it.
He’s not intelligent or well-spoken enough to garner the votes of well-informed and rational people. He’s not capable of accomplishing any of the jobs promises he made to the working class voters. The Breitbart crowd is his lifeblood.
Will ban on survive that long…he looks like he is dying
What a shameless family. How embrassing to the good and hardworking citizens of the United States to have a such a bunch of grifters in the White House.
Now, if only Russia would get mad enough at Trump to offer-up documentation on how they colluded to help him win office.
Yes I want them to be the catalyst for the impeachment.
I think it’s really interesting that with all of the Russian ties–Trump’s associates, his campaign staff, etc and the fact that Russia was behind the DNC hacking…. Why has no one openly speculated as to whether Russia didn’t actively rig the elections? Perhaps some of Clinton’s losses weren’t legitimate?
They are truly shameless in their greed. Let’s hope they soon determine that Trump’s resignation is the only thing that will save the brand.
It’s in Russia’s best interest that they don’t confirm they colluded with Trump. Once it all comes out (fingers crossed) Russia is likely to face even more sanctions and they’re already teetering on ruin which is why Putin wanted to get Trump into the White House.
I’m conflicted though, because though I absolutely want Bannon OUT and hate Trump’s grifter family…I’d much rather have them helping guide him than Bannon? On the other hand, I don’t want them to help Trump create this false image that he’s somehow competent and rational by swinging more towards the center either. I don’t think I could survive 8 years of this.
There are so many heads on the monster that is this administration, and they’ll just keep fighting each other. Cut one off and another one will grow in its place. Bannon might go, but Babyfists will want – and get – a Bannon-type replacement at some point in the future.#hydra
He already has Stephen Miller.
I was thinking Sebastian Gorka might end up in Bannon’s spot….sigh….eeeyew.
Jon Lovett on Pod Save Ametica called Miller a “B plus Santa Monica fascist”. Burn!!
Oh goodie – any bets on how long it will take before someone offers Trump and some of the Republican senior members heads in exchange for immunity?
Treason offers death penalty so cannot wait to see who goes down and who they take wit him them to hell.
I want to know how Eric Trump, who has NO SECURITY CLEARANCE, was privy to the decision making process to bomb Syria and why he thought it was okay to mouth off about it to the press. To me, that is just a serious infraction as having Princess Nagini making the decision and I have to think that both parts of that bother the intelligence community.
Could you imagine the outrage that would have come from the alt-right and their ilk if something similar had happened in the Obama administration if someone in the Obama family without security clearance were included in the decision making process on the Bin Ladin raid? I’m sure they’d be frothing at their mouths about the abuses of power and presidential authority. Although, I think I’d trust Michelle’s mother, Michelle, their girls, and the dogs to make better and more reasoned decisions for the good of our country than I would any of the Trump clan of grifters and con artists.
I read a really interesting piece about Trump recently – the author basically went through every kind of value system that Trump could have, and pointed out that he doesn’t have any beliefs or values. That’s why it was so easy to appoint a Nazi as chief strategist and so easy to fire him, he doesn’t care either way. The only thing he cares about, that any of this family care about, is the Trump brand.
Hi, do you recall where you read that? That sounds so true, would like to read. I mean does this man care about anyone? His “empathy” (for “working people” never animals or our environment it seems) is in such short supply if he has any. How does he not have one disenfranchised kid? Was it always my way or the highway and they were too ‘brainwashed’ from early on?
Just read up on the malignant kind of narcissistic personality disorder, which fits Trump very well. One of the marks of the disorder is lack of empathy. Trump displays that sign frequently.
It’s been clear for many years that Trump is only interested in Trump. I doubt that he’s able to love his children and grandchildren in the usual sense. He uses them for his purposes and then forgets about them. He doesn’t feel the kind of constant connection that normal people feel.
His children do not seem to have the disorder, even though they have other flaws, so I can believe Ivanka was shocked by the images from the Syrian gas attack especially since she has children that age. But her father was most likely faking it. The words were not his. It seemed as though somebody was feeding him the words through an earpiece, actually, and some of it sounded like Pence. Trump also at some points was probably mimicking what Ivanka might have said to him. Those phrases and thoughts were just not natural to him.
I think he appointed Bannon not for his beliefs but because Breitbart was one of the loudest pro-Trump sites around. Trump’s only values himself and picked for chief strategist someone who fawned over him no matter his beliefs. That’s it.
Correct! That’s narcissistic personality order in action right there.
Right, there was an article last year about how Bannon saw Trump as an “empty vessel” and that whomever curried the most favor with him would fill the vessel with their ideas.
How stupid is Bannon because it’s been clear from day one that trump only truly listen to ivanka opinion who to a certain extent is democratic .
Trump listens to whoever he last spoke to. Look at his comments on China and President Xinping today as proof of that. If he only listened to Ivanka there wouldn’t have been TWO attempted travel bans, executive orders repealing environmental protections, etc. But when it comes down to Bannon vs Ivanka and Kushner, I agree Ivanka comes out on top every time. Bannon is playing a dangerous game leaking negative Kushner stories to Breitbart and Free Beacon.
This guy looks ill to me — I’m always shocked that his awful coloring isn’t brought up more. Something is not right.
To me, he looks like he’s two lines away from a fatal heart attack.
If cirrhosis of the liver could take human form it would look exactly like Steve Bannon.
First picture looks like the tie is the noose that is slowly tightening around his neck and he’s trying to loosen that noose.
THIS.
I was just coming here to say this! His skin is absolutely horrible and he looks really ill.
yeah, said the same above. he looks unwell.
Bannon and DT are both looking like someone in need of emergency medical care. Every time I see a closeup photo of DT I see someone in very poor health, waiting for a heart attack any minute. DT is really out of shape and bigly in need of an intervention. Brannon looks like a man with a drinking problem and his liver is On its last gasp. Btw, DT should not talk about anyone looks. Imo he looks like a dead fish especially when he makes that fish mouth gasping for air.
They are both looking like they are heading for a serious health crisis soon.
But, but, but…DT’s doctor said he was in the best of health – better than ANYONE who EVER ran for president….EVER. Period.
Doesn’t everyone have a hippie-dippy gastro to write them a glowing letter of health? Best health of any prez, ever, said the butt (bum) doc. Believe me!
He’s healthy as a horse! You know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on.
I swear he didn’t look that old 6 months ago. He looks like he’s aged VERY quickly in a short period of time. Not that I feel bad – it’s just weird.
Part of it is just that he stopped coloring his hair and skin so we’re seeing his natural pallor. I’m very pale myself, although I get even paler when ill so some health indicators may be involved.
But often people misinterpret pale skin on the melanin-deficient as meaning poor health when it doesn’t. We just tend to burn rather than tan in the sun and either avoid the sun or cover up well. (Not everybody wants to smear chemicals on their skin for protection.) Trump may not be out in the sun much except to play golf. He doesn’t take regular walks or anything.
I was shocked how much he looks like a fat George W Bush in the photo above!
Saw an interesting bit on MSNBC last night — one of the reasons Bannon is fading fast from Trump’s favor is Bannon’s slovenly appearance. Trump likes people to look like winners, bigly.
Does Trump own a mirror?
A cracked one
Trump sees himself as a 35 year old when he looks in a mirror. He told Dr. Oz that in response to the question.
Apparently, Cheeto Mussolini prefers business dress – you know, a long tie . . . .
Is he not scotch-taping the back of his super-long ties correctly? Sad!
LOL
all i got is that…the article picture, Steve B looks LEGIT like a stage 1 zombie virus sufferer….
he is a disgusting man
The best description I read of him was resembling the drowned, bloated corpse of Robert Redford after several weeks of decomposition.
That’s an insult to Robert Redford’s corpse.
Heh, some things never change. His predecessor Breitbart looked just as unhealthy.
The Mercers are going to be so pissed. They paid a lot of money for the presidency and Bannon was their stooge in the White House.
EZ-D needs Bannon because only the wingnuts of the Alt-Right support him unconditionally. Lose them and disapproval rating shoots to the moon (less than 25% approval).
I really don’t appreciate them mentioning the Ozarks or Oklahoma. I’m from the Ozarks and been to Oklahoma. Nice people both places. I’m in Florida now, and there are country people here too. There are country people in in every state. Idk if that’s what they’re trying to say…
Agreed! I currently live in the Ozarks and the lets leave all the nice people in Branson (aka Heaven’s Waiting Room) alone 🙂
I grew up in Kansas fifteen miles from Oklahoma and live in Missouri now. I am sick of people bashing on my homes.
Yeah, I’m a delawarean and people joke that it’s like my state doesn’t exist or is a drive through state. It’s kind of mean to think that because you don’t live in a state and it’s not new york/California (no diss to those states) then it doesn’t matter. To be fair, we’re home to Joe Biden so we’ve got that going for us. I’m sure it’s annoying to hear people say, “ew who cares about that lame fly over state.”
Except that when you have a terminally ill family member, you’re usually sad at the thought of losing them.
I can’t decide how this is going to shake out. Bannon’s arrogance finally made him overstep his bounds, as happens with most egoists who think they are untouchable. But, there’s no way he’s going to go quietly-45 and Kushner are making him look bad and I don’t think he’s going to accept it for long. Assuming this isn’t some type of long con like the whole “I’m getting tough with Russia” bit.
Bannon could do some damage on his way out, now it just stands to see how much and to who.
I would love for these idiots to turn on each other and engage in mutual destruction. Preferably before NK bombs us
No way. Bannon knows where the bodies are buried-I’m sure he knows lots of dirt since he’s been with Trump for over a year.
And the comments over on Brietbart are amazing (if you can keep from vomiting). They all hate Jared…wonder why?
Because he is a Jew. Duh.
Slightly off topic but Politico has just published the mandatory White House staff financial interest disclosure statements.
Bannon, Spicer and Kellyanne are amongst them but the real eye opener is Kushner’s statement.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/white-house-staff-financial-disclosure-forms-236770
Bannon looks like Baron Harkonen in dirty LLBean khakis
This whole gang of grifters, frauds, Nazis and just plain greedy stupid a-holes needs to be forcibly kicked out of the WH and the place fumigated
Then start over
Drain the swamp! SAD.
I went on Breitbart yesterday and clicked on the link about the Bannon story. The alt-right are going crazy about the chance Bannon is leaving and infuriated. They detest Ivanka and Jared as much as we do and call them liberal Democrats. There were many comments regarding being disgusted with his family being so prominent in the White House. They say if he gets rid of Bannon, who stands for what they stand for, they will feel conned, and he will be a first-term president, yada, yada, yada.
Ivanka and Jared are opportunists, is what they are, working towards their political future. I despise them. Eric stating Ivanka had daddy’s ear over the bombing is bizarre. It’s part of damage control of Ivanka but also shows what a inept president we have. He’s listening to someone who sells clothes and shoes regarding whether to bomb or not? I’m incredulous. Dear God, save us.
I do like that the alt-right bigots are in a tizzy over Trump and now complaining about him.
In addition to showing that Ivanka, with no diplomatic or military training or experience, is making military decisions and sharing that information, as she is making those decisions, with people who have no security clearance and no compunctions against sharing classified information with the press and others.
Why he values Ivanka’s opinion so much is because he knows she has his and his business’ best interests at heart in the advice she gives. That’s what matters most to Trump – what’s best for Trump.
Someone needs to explain to him that nuclear war will be bad for him personally – that if humankind is wiped out or planet earth detroyed, that will include his own demise, not just everyone else’s. And that for whatever is left of the human race, he will go down in history as the worst president ever. He needs things explained to him in terms of how it affects him personally.
T. Kaine did an excellent interview this evening, with a local NBC affiliate. He was so tactful and well spoken (made me wish he’d been the lead on the ticket). He said that cheeto needs to touch base with Congress about military strategy, as most current members were not around when the 2001 authorization was made that allowed the mega-bomb today. The Syrian action was not officially authorized.
He also talked about opoids and miners’ healthcare concerns. I hope some of the red voters are paying close attention.
The fish rots from the head. Trump is still the president, Bannon or no Bannon. #nosleeptilimpeachment
If you like podcasts listen to this (i listen to this episode twice)
http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/trumpcast/2017/04/the_impeachable_offenses_of_donald_trump.html
Thanks for posting this…I appreciate all these links you folks post, and it gives me hope that the media isn’t being intimidated.
PLEASE spare us from this family in 2020 and forever!!! Amen.
VOTE MIDTERMS!!! Spare us in 2018! IMPEACH!!
And make sure everyone you know is enrolled to vote NOW. Don’t wait until the election is closer because deadlines vary from state to state. And that goes regardless of what side of politics they’re on too – every eligible citizen should be enrolled to vote, it’s just the right thing to do to help everyone regardless of political persuasion, plus you never know when someone might swing, especially given the current volatility surrounding Trump.
I hope they all turn on each other like a shark frenzy attack. All of them need to be removed from office. Now they want to put forth a centrist message because of their businesses and not because it would be good for the country? They have no souls.
And yet his idiot supporters (especially in rural areas) still support him. Imagine the shit storm if Obama had reversed himself on major campaign promises.
WHIPLASH: Trump Reverses Himself On 6 Major Issues In 2 Days
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-reverses-himself_us_58ee7ffee4b0b9e98488ea64
Apparently, the morons squatting in the WH can’t even manage an Easter Egg Roll.
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/11/donald-trumps-white-house-cant-even-organize-the-easter-egg-roll/
The Easter Egg roll is turning into a total fiasco and it is normally a huge public event. And this is directly related to Melania parking her butt in Manhattan and nobody caring enough about the actual running of the White House to pick up any of the schedules and binders of information that are sitting in those offices. They screwed up the Inaugural Luncheon too. Vendors traditionally involved in both events have complained about lack of organization, last minute phone calls, and numbers being way off. Wait until the idiot learns that he is expected to spend most of December hosting holiday parties
Well, Fatso-in-Chief is headed to MAL for some more chocolate cake, so if it does come off at least no children will be trampled by that lumbering gigantosaurus.
I would think Plastic Barbie woukd see it as a photo op, maybe have her spawn dance to Easter Parade.
But her spawn are supposedly being raised Jewish Orthodox so anything to do with Easter wouldn’t be appropriate
She’s on vacation. Again! In Canada! Probably stalking Justin while jared’s in DC.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4409600/Ivanka-Trump-Jared-Kushner-Canada-Passover.html
OMG reading those comments in that article was funny. Leave it to those idiots to f-up easter. Probably christmas too if they are still there.
I fear for Thanksgiving Turkey!☹️☹️
I don’t think Trump wants Bannon to turn on him so he might keep him around, perhaps slipping a little cyanide in his coffee now and then??? Just joking!!!!
So, is Rancid Penis hiding under a desk in a darkened office or have Bannon and Princess Nagini united to stab him and throw his body in the Potomac?
I am not sure why Bannon ever though he would win in a battle with Kushner though. He seems a pretty strategic guy and in a dictatorship family always comes first. Cheeto is such a dummy that he only trusts his family to tell him the truth, whatever that may be. Bannon was never going to the be able to be trusted more than a family member, and especially not Jared or Ivanka.
It must be some sort of Pavlov conditioning, but every time I read or see a story about Steve Bannon I get this sick feeling in my stomach, like something very bad is about to happen. I have been trying to stay away from 24 hour news stations.
And America just bombed Afghanistan with the largest non nuclear bomb. Now I am genuinely scared and I am in freaking South Africa, as far as away from the craziness in the Northern hemisphere, as you can get.
The MOAB bomb is a tunnel destroyer, this was a signal to North Korea which is riddled with miles of tunnels on the Sth Korean boarder. Estimates say that 500,000 troops can be hidden in them in preperation for an invasion of Sth Korea. MOAB was dropped on an ISIS strong hold so frankly I applaud this one.
So Ivanka’s new job in the WH consists of leaking positive stories about her father(Trump is presidential because he bombed Syria and a new and improved man because those photos from Syria made him feel real emotion) and herself (it was her idea to bomb Syria even though we all know that Trump isn’t going to do anything without Putin’s approval) and throwing everyone, including Putin and Bannon, under the bus.
I thought that Trump was going to turn on Bannon when Time put Bannon on the cover, everyone on twitter was calling Bannon president, and SNL did that skit where Bannon was sitting at the President’s desk while Trump had a smaller desk.
Forgot to add. As stories about Trump’s ties to Russia heat up and the lies he told about Obama and Susan Rice are exposed, Trump is going to drop a bomb on a country. Last week it was Syria and today it’s Afghanistan. Who is it going to be tomorrow? Iraq? Perhaps Trump didn’t miss-speak in his interview, when he said that he bombed Iraq. As Trump learned last week when “Ivanka”(Putin) told him to bomb Syria leaving little or no destruction, dropping bombs will drown out all of the negative stories about him and Russia and make the press call him “presidential” . How long before Ivanka and her brother are leaking stories about how she told her father to bomb Afghanistan?
What Trump doesn’t think about when he drops these bombs are the American troops that are in these countries. When he dropped the bomb in Syria last week, Rachel M reported that the American troops had to flee their base, that ISIS then attacked their base, and the Americans and Syrians had to fight against Syria. None of this was reported by the press because they were too busy patting Trump on the back for being presidential!
Imo this is all about DT poll #. Today he dropped a bomb they call ” the mother of all bomb” in Afghanastan killing 18 people identified as friendly fighters. I swear this man is going to start a war to show how tough he is. When he was in the primary he was shouting all over that he’s not going to be the policeman of the world. Now he’s all over dropping bombs and doing nothing to grow jobs what he was elected to do. Let’s see how his people going to like watching their oil price goes up cutting into their pay checks. When oil prices goes up food prices goes up ect.
@B n A fn. Right now all his armchair warriors are going woo-hoo, yipee. I say put their a$$es in uniform and ship them over there.
@BNA I think you’re conflating two different stories.
The “mother of all bombs” was dropped in Afghanistan. I don’t believe any figures on the death toll have been released.
The friendly fighters were Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. They were killed by an American airstrike in northern Syria.
The Syrian fighters who were killed were actually the ones who sent the wrong co-ordinates to the American fighters. Military commenters on several sites say that they use GPS locators on the ground and if the GPS system has rebooted just prior, it will reset co-ordinates at 0.0 (your own position) this happened several times during the gulf war. American fighters killed their own troops on one occasion. The Syrians have admitted the error on their part. You would think after 15years they could have ironed out that bug.
Susanne, this man will be the death of us just to keep his lies from being exposed, eg, getting help from Russia to win the presidency. He knows the truth is coming out and he’s afraid, so let’s bomb something and kill some people and not mention the dead, today 18 died as far as we know.
This man is rotting from the inside out. He looks like an alcoholic waiting for a Liver transplant, I’m not even being hyperbolic. How he and Trump continue to survive having such appalling visible health is just…beyond me. (Part of why Trump “tans” is to distract from the pallor of his skin, I’m convinced.)
@KB: thanks for the correction. I believe I saw the number 18 when reading about the “Mother of all bombs” in the DM earlier today. Now I cannot find the story to verify. Someone told me the Stock Market #s were all red at closing. DT’s people who were boasting that their portfolio #s all up is not going to like to see red. I don’t think they are going to like seeing the oil prices and food prices going up very soon.
Produce will get more expensive. Even documented workers are afraid to come to the fields because of ICE raids, even though so far they’re leaving farms alone. The loss of experienced field workers means crops may not be harvested in time to avoid spoilage.
Homeboy. Invest in some goddamn makeup; you look like shit.