| | | | Donald Trump 1, Steve Bannon 0 | | Donald Trump made Steve Bannon. And, on Tuesday, he unmade him.
Bannon, who served as Trump's senior White House strategist until he was fired in August 2017, left as the head of Breitbart News -- roughly one week after quotes critical of Trump and his family went public in Michael Wolff's blockbuster book, "Fire and Fury."
Bannon's allegations -- that the July 2016 meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and several Russians who had promised dirt on Hillary Clinton was "treasonous," for one -- set the President off.
Trump took a flamethrower to Bannon, whom he suggested had lost his mind. He even gave Bannon a much dreaded nickname -- "Sloppy Steve" -- presumably in reference to Bannon's unshaved appearance and penchant for wearing three (or more) collared shirts layered on top of one another.
By the time Bannon realized just how badly he had screwed up, it was too late. His groveling apology to Trump didn't move the needle. And his longtime financial patron, Rebekah Mercer, abandoned Bannon too.
Bannon's departure on Tuesday was simply a recognition of the obvious: He was far too damaged in the eyes of Trumpworld to possibly continue in his role at Breitbart.
What Bannon forgot: The staff is the staff and the politician is the politician, and the politician always matters more. Bannon imagined himself a sort of quasi-president and the actual President bristled. (The best evidence that Bannon had forgotten his place? Rumors that he was going to run for president in his own right.)
The Point: Trump took Bannon from the fringes of the political conversation all the way to the White House. Somewhere along the way, Bannon forgot that Trump was the boss and he was the underling. Everything that happened after that was sadly predictable.
-- Chris | | "I'll beat Oprah. Oprah would be a lot of fun...I like Oprah, I don't think she's going to run. I know her very well."
-President Donald Trump on potential Oprah 2020 presidential run | | | SHERIFF JOE ANNOUNCES SENATE BID | | Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last year, is throwing his hat in the Arizona Senate race.
He tweeted Tuesday: "I am running for the U.S. Senate from the Great State of Arizona, for one unwavering reason: to support the agenda and policies of President Donald Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again." He linked to a Washington Examiner article that first reported the move.
A reminder: Arpaio once insisted that President Barack Obama was not a US citizen and that his birth certificate was fraudulent. In 1993 he also established "Tent City" -- an outdoor prison consisting of tents, saying it saved the taxpayers money despite criticism that the conditions were inhumane.
Read more about Arpaio's announcement here in CNN's story by Eric Bradner. | | Today was a crazy news day, but here are some must-read stories worth your time:
CNN launched As Equals, a yearlong multiplatform reporting project exploring the challenges women face in the world's least developed countries. It's amazing, check it out.
Why Are Our Most Important Teachers Paid the Least? a significant New York Times Magazine read by Jeneen Interlandi.
See South Korea's 2018 Winter Olympics venues in new photos taken from space.
The Daily Beast's Taylor Lorenz got some interesting secret data from Snapchat.
Forbes did a great Q&A with CNN's very own Dana Bash! | | | The new "Black Panther" trailer (which looks so good, BTW) features new, unheard music from Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples (!!!) | | CNN's Ashley Killough reports:
"Senate Democrats are touting growing momentum to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality protections, though they face a steep uphill battle to pass their bill. Democrats announced Tuesday they have 40 co-sponsors for a resolution of disapproval that would overturn a repeal of the regulations, essentially guaranteeing them a procedural vote on the floor.
"'Millennials are energized,' Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who's leading the effort, said at a news conference. 'They know the loss of net neutrality means the loss of control of the internet, which is oxygen to them. We cannot let that happen.'"
Read more in Ashley's story here. | | CNN's Ryan Struyk writes:
Here's a key stat that starts to explain the politics behind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program debate: The more DACA recipients live in a congressional district, the more Democratic that district tends to be. In fact, on average, Democratic districts have nearly double the number of DACA recipients as Republican districts: 2,469 vs. 1,391. One more way to look at this: A broad 41 of the top 50 congressional districts with the most DACA recipients are represented by Democrats — and 38 of the bottom 50 are represented by Republicans.
For more coverage of of DACA, check out CNN's full story, by Dana Bash, Daniella Diaz and Tal Kopan. | | Chris broke down the 40 most remarkable lines from President Trump's 55-minute immigration talk-a-thon. Yes, it really lasted 55 minutes, during which he said the following: - "If we do this properly, DACA, you're not so far away from comprehensive immigration reform and if you want to take it that further step, I'll take the heat, I don't care."
- "My whole life has been heat. I like heat, in a certain way."
- "We'll do DACA and we can certainly start comprehensive immigration reform. The following afternoon, OK?"
- "I don't think it's going to be that complicated."
- "I'd love not to build the wall. But you need the wall."
And many, many more noteworthy quotes. Read CNN's Tal Kopan's story on the meeting here. | | | Don't spend 55 minutes thinking about it: Just tell everyone you know to subscribe to The Point. While you're at it, check out CNN Politics' Instagram story for some more Point fun (courtesy of Brenna and Chris). | | 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. | | | | | | |
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