| | | | Steve Bannon is twisting in the White House wind these days.
"I like Mr. Bannon," President Donald Trump said Tuesday at Trump Tower. "He's a friend of mine ...he's not a racist...but we'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon."
Per Axios, which cited a "source with knowledge," Bannon "was proud of how [Trump] stood up to the braying mob of reporters" in the Tuesday press conference.
So. Here's what we know: - Trump likes Bannon
- Bannon is no racist, according to Trump
- Stay tuned to see whether Bannon gets fired!
- Bannon seems not to know what "on the record" means...
In a rare public interview with the progressive American Prospect, Bannon was incredibly candid about a lot of topics.
He told the publication he is "fighting" other top White House aides "every day." He was also surprisingly honest about his thoughts on colleagues. "They're wetting themselves," Bannon told the Prospect of "his rivals at the Department of Defense, State, and Treasury." He then proceeded "to detail how he would oust some of his opponents at State and Defense."
Here's what else we know: The knives are out for Bannon. Bigly.
"If it was up to me, he would be gone, but it's not up to me," Anthony "Mooch" Scaramucci, the former White House communications director, said of Bannon during an interview Monday night with Stephen Colbert. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly told President Trump directly to get rid of Bannon, according to The New York Times.
Of course, we've been here -- or close to it -- before. In early April, simmering tensions between Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser to the President, reached a head.
"We gotta work this out," Trump told the two men. "Cut it out."
Somehow, Bannon -- despite committing the cardinal sin of getting in a fight with a family member -- survived, largely by going super low-profile for the next few months.
Circumstances have changed -- and not in a good way -- for Bannon between then and now, however. Gone is chief of staff Reince Priebus, weirdly a Bannon ally, and in his place is John Kelly, a military man not likely to be simpatico with Bannon's worldview or approach to politics.
It's also uniquely possible Trump believes he no longer needs Bannon. Trump has mainlined the populism and nationalism that Bannon brought to the fore during the campaign. (See Trump's responses to Charlottesville.) Trump may see himself as having outgrown Bannon -- and the baggage he carries with him.
No matter what Trump decides on Bannon, it feels like that decision is coming sooner than later.
Can Bannon hope to survive a second attempt to push him out of the White House?
--Chris | | Recent polls have found President Donald Trump's approval rating is slipping to new lows, and those low marks are starting to take a toll on perceptions of the President's character as well.
CNN's Jennifer Agiesta writes:
In a Marist poll out this morning, just 35% of Americans said they approved of Trump's handling of the presidency. When asked to grade his work so far, 51% gave his presidency a D or an F. Three-quarters say Trump is more temperamental as President than level-headed, while just 21% felt the opposite. Many of Trump's core supporters seem to share that view, with 51% of Republicans and 46% who approve of his work as President generally calling him temperamental.
More broadly, about two-thirds said that his conduct as President so far has made them feel more embarrassed than proud. Most Republicans said they felt more proud than embarrassed (61%).
Gallup on Wednesday also released new poll findings showing the percentage of those who see Trump as a strong and decisive leader has fallen below 50% for the first time since he took office. About 47% now see him as a strong leader, down from 52% in April and 59% in February. Only 4 in 10 said the President "cares about the needs of people like you," down a nominal 2 points since April but off 6 points since February. | | CNN's Ryan Struyk writes:
An avalanche of polling over the last three years shows how people of different racial backgrounds have wildly different American experiences.
Public opinion polling paints a stark picture of wide disparities between African-Americans and other minorities compared to whites. Black Americans perceive -- and experience -- racial discrimination more than white Americans. The bottom line is that nonwhites tend to see racial discrimination a lot more than whites do.
An overwhelming 87% of black Americans say black people face a lot of discrimination in the United States, but only 49% of white Americans say the same thing, according to a February poll from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Polls show most Americans think Trump's campaign and presidency is making a difference when it comes to prejudice in the United States. More than six in 10 Americans (63%) say the level of hatred and prejudice in the United States has increased since Trump was elected president, according to a Quinnipiac University poll in March. That includes seven in 10 nonwhites (70%) who feel this way.
For more, read Ryan's full story here. | | | DOOM and Jay Electronica debuted "True Lightyears." Check it out on NPR Music. | |  | | Per Newsweek reporter Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek has "intrepidly rented out" President Trump's childhood home (yes the one that's in Queens and available on Airbnb). Nazaryan shared two pictures from inside Trump's childhood bedroom, and has been live tweeting his findings. As of Wednesday afternoon, Nazaryan said he had counted six copies of "The Art of the Deal" in the house. | | | Photo courtesy: YouTube/screengrabs | | Late-night hosts have not shied away from criticizing President Trump. Hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and James Corden all made note of the President's press conference Tuesday, during which he again said "both sides" were at fault for the violence in Charlottesville this past weekend.
Kimmel: "We need to set him [Trump] up in a castle, maybe in Florida, lead him to the top and then lock the door to that castle — forever."
Meyers: "'Where does it stop?' Buddy we've been asking ourselves that since January."
Colbert: "No word yet on where the [Confederate] statues will end up, but I'm guessing Steve Bannon's summer home."
Corden: "This is ridiculous. Trump's the guy that walks out of 'Star Wars' thinking they didn't have to blow up the Death Star. There was blame on both sides." | | Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump sure know how to plan a timely getaway.
Real Clear News reporter Rebecca Berg, a CNN contributor, posted a chronology of Jared/Ivanka vacations on Twitter Wednesday: | | We asked CNN's Kate Bennett (co-author of another great CNN newsletter COVER/LINE) to elaborate. She wrote:
It's true that Javanka (Jared Kushner + Ivanka Trump = Javanka) are often away from the White House when there's turmoil, which is lots.
Their timing for avoiding hot-button issues is pretty impeccable, if you ask me.
For example, in March, as health care was taking a beating in the House, Javanka took the kids for a spring break trip to the posh ski town of Aspen, Colorado.
And just a month later, during a Passover getaway, they were on the slopes again, this time in Whistler, Canada, another ski resort. Ivanka was snapped by a stranger in a red, fur-trimmed skiing outfit. But I digress – they were away from the West Wing as tensions roiled over alleged infighting between Steve Bannon and Kushner.
In July, the couple, sans kids, took several days to go to the Allen & Co. conference of wealthy business leaders and moguls in Sun Valley, Idaho – while back home Ivanka's older brother, Don Jr., was in the headlines for his emails concerning a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer during campaign season.
And that brings us to this week. Granted, they were in Bedminster on working vacation over the weekend, during the Charlottesville protests, but as the President's impromptu press conference exploded into a free for all about race relations and sides, Javanka were already away from it all, on a planned two-day mini-break in Vermont. | | This is purr-haps one of the most L.A. stories ever.
Chateau Marmont, a popular West Hollywood hotel frequented by celebrities, is threatening a lawsuit against a place called "Cateau Marmont," a grooming/boarding service also in Los Angeles area. Per The Hollywood Reporter: "What does the Chateau Marmont have against cats? Lawyers for Andre Balazs' Sunset Strip hangout recently sent a cease and desist letter to Cateau Marmont, a Toluca Lake kitty-only grooming and boarding service, threatening a lawsuit if the name isn't changed."
Chateau v. Cateau: A reality show waiting to happen. | | | We always try to point you in the right direction. Tell everyone you know to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
Post a Comment