DOWN GOES BANNON!!! DOWN GOES BANNON!!!

THE WHITE HOUSE HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE PARTING WAYS WITH
STEVE BANNON, THE CHIEF STRATEGIST OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE GOT HIM] DOWN GOES BANNON!
WHAT NOW?
WHAT NOW?
OKAY, OF COURSE WE ARE NOT REALLY SURE THAT WE GOT HIM.
THERE'S AN EXCELLENT CHANCE HE GOT HIMSELF, ALONG WITH THE
ENTIRE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
I THINK TRUMP STILL THINKS HE'S ON
THE APPRENTICE, HE HAS TO FIRE SOMEONE EVERY WEEK.
AT ALMOST EVERY FRIDAY.
SCARAMUCCI WAS OUT ON A MONDAY, EVERYONE ELSE IS OUT ON A
FRIDAY.
USUALLY IN A NORMAL ADMINISTRATION THE NEWS CYCLE
STARTS TO DIE DOWN, AND BY FRIDAY THERE IS VERY LITTLE NEWS
TO COVER, BUT NO, WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FRIDAY TENDS TO
BE AN EXPLOSIVE NEWSDAY, AND THE WEEKEND GETS MORE EXPLOSIVE.
LET
ME GIVE YOU BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF WHAT IS GOING ON
BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF DRAMA AND IT'S VERY GOOD.
LET'S START
FROM THE BEGINNING, THE WHITE HOUSE RELEASED A STATEMENT TODAY
INDICATING THEY WERE PART WAYS WITH STEVE BANNON, SARAH
HUCKABEE SANDERS RELEASED THAT STATEMENT AND
SAID --
OF COURSE EVEN THOUGH BANNON'S GONE THERE ARE SOME
SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS STILL LEAKING TO THE MEDIA, AND
THEY SAY IT WASN'T A MUTUAL DECISION, I'LL GET TO THAT IN A
SECOND, BUT THERE HAS BEEN SOME FORESHADOWING OF THIS.
EARLIER
IN THE WEEK WHEN DONALD TRUMP GAVE HIS SUPER QUESTIONABLE
PRESS CONFERENCE ON INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH QUICKLY
DEVOLVED INTO COMMENTS ABOUT HOW WHITE SUPREMACISTS ARE BAD JUST
LIKE PEOPLE ON THE LEFT ARE BAD, HE ALSO TOUCHED ON STEVE BANNON
--
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR CHIEF STRATEGIST, MR.
BANNON?
I NEVER SPOKE TO MR.
BANNON ABOUT IT.
DO YOU STILL HAVE CONFIDENCE IN HIM?
LOOK, I LIKE MR.
BANNON, HE'S A FRIEND OF MINE.
BUT MR.
BANNON
CAME ON VERY LATE, YOU KNOW THAT TIME I WENT THROUGH 17 SENATORS,
GOVERNORS, AND WON ALL THE PRIMARIES, MR.
BANNON CAME ON
LATER THAN THAT, AND I LIKE HIM, HE'S A GOOD MAN, HE'S NOT A
RACIST, I CAN TELL YOU THAT, HE'S A GOOD PERSON, HE GETS
UNFAIR PRESS IN THAT REGARD, WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH
MR.
BANNON BUT HE'S A GOOD PERSON AND I THINK THE
PRESS TREATS HIM FRANKLY VERY UNFAIRLY.
AT THAT POINT HE WAS GONE.
TRUMP IS SUCH A MADMAN THAT
THERE'S SOME CHANCE HE WOULD HAVE RETAINED HIM, BUT ANY OTHER
PRESIDENT WHO SAYS WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THAT GUY,
THAT DECISION HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE.
ALSO IT IS RUMORED THAT IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED EARLIER
ANYWAY.
AND ALSO, MR.
BANNON?
BANNON BANNON FO-FANNON -- THERE'S SUCH A DISTANCE.
I ALSO THINK HE'S A LITTLE SCARED OF HIM, BECAUSE HE HAS
THAT BREITBART, ALT-RIGHT CONTINGENT.
HE ALMOST NEVER CALLS ANYONE MR.
ANYTHING.
IF HE WAS SCARED THEN --
THAT CONTINGENT IS GOING TO WAR, WE WILL TALK ABOUT THAT IN
A SECOND.
SO THAT'S WHY THE CONTEXT OF STEVE BANNON'S
CALLING ROBERT KUTTNER AT THE AMERICAN PROSPECT AND SAYING THE
THINGS HE DID IS FASCINATING, I'M NOT SURE IT'S THAT RELEVANT
ANYMORE, BUT IT'S FASCINATING AS TO -- BECAUSE HE SAID THAT AFTER
TRUMP SAID WE'LL SEE ABOUT MR.
BANNON.
THERE ARE A LOT OF FACTORS THAT PLAYED INTO THIS EVENTUAL
OUTCOME, AND I WANT TO TOUCH ON ALL OF THOSE FACTORS NOW.
FIRST
OF ALL, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT BANNON HAD A VERY TENSE
RELATIONSHIP WITH SEVERAL MEMBERS OF TRUMP'S
ADMINISTRATION INCLUDING JARED KUSHNER, SOMEONE WHO HE BELIEVES
IS THIS GLOBALIST, AND BY THE WAY, PEOPLE WHO WRITE FOR
BREITBART HAVE BEEN CRITICIZING KUSHNER PRETTY AGGRESSIVELY.
AND
THERE'S ALSO GARY COHN, THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL
DIRECTOR, AND H.R. MCMASTER.
BANNON USED TO BE PART OF THE
SECURITY COUNCIL BUT WAS ESSENTIALLY KICKED OUT, AND H.R.
MCMASTER HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT, SO BANNON HAS BEEN
PRETTY SALTY ABOUT THAT SINCE IT
OCCURRED.
ALSO --
ALSO IN REGARD TO TRUMP --
ONLY THE PRESIDENT GETS TO MAKE PERSONNEL CHANGES, SO WHEN
BANNON SAID I'M GOING TO FIRE THIS GUY OR PUT THAT PERSON IN
PLACE, THAT DEFINITELY GOT UNDER TRUMP'S SKIN, THAT TOUCHES HIS
EGO, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD.
IT'S NOT OVERLY
IMPORTANT NOW THAT BANNON IS OUT AS TO THE CHRONOLOGY, THIS WHOLE
IDEA THAT BANNON WANTED TO RESIGN ANYWAY ON AUGUST 2,
THAT'S TOTAL B.S., IGNORE THAT COMPLETELY, HE FOUGHT IT ALL THE
WAY TO THE END, AND IT APPEARS BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF THE
REPORTING THAT HE WAS FIRED TODAY AND IS A FACE-SAVING
GESTURE THEY SAID WE WILL LET YOU CALL IT A RESIGNATION.
BUT
NOW, IRONICALLY BECAUSE HE WAS A HUGE LEAKER, THEY ARE LEAKING
ALL OVER THE PLACE GOING, IT WASN'T A RESIGNATION, HE WAS
FIRED.
MY SENSE OF IT, MICHAEL, IS THAT IF TRUMP HADN'T MADE UP
HIS MIND HE WAS CLOSE TO IT BEFORE BANNON GAVE THAT
DISASTROUS INTERVIEW TO THE AMERICAN PROSPECT --
THAT THE IRONY, IT CAME FROM GIVING AN INTERVIEW TO A FAIRLY
LIBERAL PUBLICATION.
SO IN A SENSE, WE GOT HIM.
THAT'S WHERE I WAS GOING.
AND IF THAT WASN'T IT IT WAS JOHN
KELLY COMING IN AS OTHERS HAVE DONE AND WHAT THEY CALL TRUMP
WORLD, DOING THE SAME THING.
TRUMP, IN THAT PRESS CONFERENCE
YOU JUST PLAYED, ANA, HE SAID WE WON A LOT OF PRIMARIES, WE GOT A
LOT OF GOVERNORS, BEFORE BANNON GOT HERE.
BUT TO BANNON'S CREDIT
HE DID A FANTASTIC JOB IN THE GENERAL ELECTION OF FINDING OUT
WHERE TO GO IN FINDING OUT WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T VOTE IN
THE PRIMARIES OR IN PAST ELECTIONS, OR REALLY JUST WANTED
DONALD TRUMP TO BE THERE, WHERE THEY WERE, AND HELPED TARGET
THAT ELECTION.
HE WAS AN EFFICIENT LEADER AT THAT TIME,
BUT AS WE'VE SEEN WITH TRUMP HE COULD DISPOSE OF PAUL MANAFORT
WHO WAS COMING IN TO CLEAN HOUSE AND MAKE EVERYTHING WORK -- IF
JOHN KELLY THINKS HE'S GOT A JOB FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE, HE
COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG.
TRUMP, IT'S SEE YOU LATER AND THAT'S
THE END OF IT WITH THESE PEOPLE.
LEWANDOWSKI COMES IN ONCE IN A WHILE.
ULTIMATELY I THINK HE WILL DO IT TO HIMSELF AT THE END.
OKAY
DONNIE, YOU'RE FIRED.
BUT THAT'S FOR ANOTHER DAY.
BUT TO YOUR
POINT, MICHAEL, WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THOSE STATES HE WON
WITHOUT BANNON, THAT'S HIM SAYING REMEMBER, IT WAS ME, NOT
MR.
BANNON.
THE NUMBER ONE OFFENSE IN TRUMP'S ADMINISTRATION THAT WILL
GET YOU FIRED IS HURTING HIS EGO IN ANY WAY. AND IF YOU TAKE
CREDIT FOR ANYTHING IN TRUMP'S ADMINISTRATION HE WILL FIND A
WAY TO FIRE YOU, AND I THINK THAT PLAYED A ROLE IN HIS
EVENTUAL FIRING.
I ALSO THINK, THOUGH, THAT THERE WAS A FEAR --
OR NOT JUST A FEAR, I THINK THERE'S REASON TO BELIEVE, THAT
BANNON WAS ONE OF THE LEAKERS, AND I DON'T THINK THAT AMERICAN
PROSPECT INTERVIEW -- LOOK, SOME OUTLETS REPORTED ON THAT
INTERVIEW AS IF BANNON PULLED A SCARAMUCCI AND DIDN'T KNOW THAT
IT WAS NOT OFF THE RECORD.
BANNON ISN'T AN IDIOT, HE WORKS
IN THE MEDIA.
HE KNEW IT WAS ON THE RECORD, HE KNEW IT WOULD GET
REPORTED, I THINK THAT WAS HIM FLEXING HIS MUSCLES TO SHOW
TRUMP, I HAVE A LOT OF INFLUENCE IN MEDIA.
THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
THAT'S A PERFECTLY
GOOD HYPOTHESIS.
I HAVE TWO OTHERS, WHICH I HAVEN'T MADE UP
MY MIND BETWEEN.
ONE IS THAT SOMETIMES WHEN YOU KNOW
SOMETHING IS GOING IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION, AND I'VE SEEN
ATHLETES DO THIS A MILLION TIMES, YOU WILL SUBCONSCIOUSLY
THROW IT.
HIM GOING ON THERE, NOT CLARIFYING THAT IT'S OFF THE
RECORD, AND SAYING ALL THIS STUFF, IS A WAY OF THROWING IN
THE TOWEL, I'M DONE WITH THIS.
POSSIBLE, I'M NOT SAYING THAT'S
DEFINITE.
AND I KNOW THAT'S POP PSYCHOLOGY, I GET THAT.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF HE WOULD'VE PICKED THE AMERICAN
PROSPECT TO THROW THE FLAG IN.
THE OTHER THING HE MIGHT HAVE DONE, BECAUSE HE'S NOT AS DUMB
AS TRUMP -- TRUMP WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT ANY OF THIS THROUGH, IF
TRUMP DID IT I WOULD SAY HE'S AN IDIOT, HE CALLED THE GUY AND
THAT'S IT -- IS HE KNEW HE WAS GETTING FIRED, HE SAW THAT PRESS
CONFERENCE, HE KNEW THAT WE'LL SEE MEANS YOU ARE DONE, SO HE
DOES THIS SO HE IS A FIG LEAF FOR WHY HE GOT FIRED LIKE
SCARAMUCCI AS OPPOSED TO, YOU ARE TOO RACIST, YOU ARE TOO THIS
OR THAT, AND YOU WERE SHOWN THE DOOR.
THIS SEEMS LIKE I SCREWED
UP THAT ONE LITTLE THING AND THAT'S WHY I GOT FIRED,
OTHERWISE I HAD IT.
THAT'S ALSO ANOTHER POSSIBILITY.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS, THAT STUFF DOESN'T MATTER
NOW THAT HE'S GONE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT
HE'S GONE.
HE'S GONE, AND WHAT I SPECULATE HE WILL DO NOW THAT
HE'S GONE I THINK IS WAY MORE RELEVANT.
I KNOW IT'S ONLY
SPECULATION, BUT PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT BANNON WILL GO RIGHT BACK
TO BREITBART, WHY WOULDN'T HE?
HE STILL HAS INFLUENCE OVER THE
REPORTING THAT TAKES PLACE THERE, WHICH IS WHY THEY BEEN SO
CRITICAL OF EVERYONE IN THE ADMINISTRATION THAT BANNON
DOESN'T GET ALONG WITH.
I THINK THE FACT HE'S GONE IS GREAT NEWS FOR THE COUNTRY FOR
SEVERAL REASONS.
NUMBER ONE IS, HE'S THE FATHER OF THE ALT-RIGHT
MOVEMENT, A WHITE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT, HAVING THAT GUY IN THE
WHITE HOUSE WAS TOXIC, AND IT'S A GREAT RELIEF THAT HE'S GONE.
THE SECOND IS THAT HE'S WAY BRIGHTER THAN TRUMP, AND IF HE
HAD DONE HIS EXACT POPULIST STRATEGY -- NOT POLICY WISE,
POLICY WISE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER -- BUT POLITICALLY IT
HAD SOME CHANCE OF WORKING.
IF YOU WENT WITH AN ECONOMIC
NATIONALISM LIKE HE TOLD KUTTNER AT THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, IT'S
AN UGLY FORM OF POLITICS BUT ONE THAT HAS POTENTIAL ESPECIALLY AT
A TIME OF POPULIST RAGE.
NOW WITHOUT HIM TRUMP HAS NO CHANCE
OF PULLING THAT OFF, AND NOW HE'S SURROUNDED BY GOLDMAN SACHS
GUYS WHO THE COUNTRY BASICALLY HATES.
AND NOW HE'S BASICALLY
TAKING SOME OF HIS ALT-RIGTH BASE WITH HIM.
EVEN IF THEY
AREN'T GOING TO VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT, A LOT OF THEM SAID
THEY WILL STAY HOME.
AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM THE DEMOCRATS
HAD.
SO IT'S JUST A GIANT WIN/WIN FOR US IN THE COUNTRY
THAT BANNON IS OUT BECAUSE POLICY WISE THEY WON'T GO
IN AS BAD A DIRECTION WITHOUT HIS GUIDANCE, AND
POLITICALLY I THINK IT DOES SERIOUS DAMAGE TO TRUMP.
THAT IS TRUE.
AFTER REINCE PRIEBUS LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE I
SPOKE TO SOMEONE WHO WORKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE WHO SAID THERE'S
ALWAYS A CALCULATION THEY MAKE, THEY SIT DOWN AND THEY SAY HOW
MUCH IS THIS GUY OR THIS WOMAN THAT HURT US FROM OUTSIDE?
THERE
WAS ALWAYS THE FEAR THAT STEVE BANNON LEAVES THE WHITE HOUSE
UNDER BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, AND IT'S BAD FOR THE ADMINISTRATION
BECAUSE HE WILL GO OUT AND JUST WAGE WAR AGAINST THEM AND SAY
WHAT THE SECRETS ARE, ETC., AND AFTERWARDS TODAY BANNON GAVE AN
INTERVIEW AND HE SAID HE IS GOING TO WAR, BUT HE'S GOING TO
WAR WITH THE OPPONENTS OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
HE'S GOING TO SPEND
HIS TIME GOING AFTER THE OPPONENTS OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
WHICH YOU CAN BELIEVE HE WOULD SAY TODAY, BUT WATCH HIM IN A
WEEK OR A MONTH OR THREE MONTHS, BECAUSE MOST LIKELY HE HAS A
CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW IT HAPPENED.
BUT MAYBE NOT.
HE HAS LIVED IN THE SHADOWS IN SOME RESPECTS,
NOW HE'S GOING TO COME OUT.
YOU CALLED HIM THE FATHER OF THE
ALT-RIGHT MOVEMENT, I WOULD SAY HE'S MORE OF THE GODFATHER.
HE
CULTIVATED IT, AND HE MAY BE MORE DANGEROUS NOW.
OF COURSE HE WILL ATTACK THE LEFT.
HE AND I NEVER HAD
INTERACTIONS, WE MET ONCE AT THE RNC -- OF COURSE HE DOESN'T LIKE
THE LEFT, BUT HE HAS HAD EIGHT MONTHS OF WARFARE AGAINST GARY
COHN AND JARED KUSHNER AND ALL THE GUYS HE CALLS GLOBALISTS,
ESPECIALLY H.R. MCMASTER, HE WILL GO TO WAR AGAINST THEM.
IT'S LIKE CIRSEI -- I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THE WHITE WALKERS, I
WILL GO AFTER MY OPPONENTS IN WESTEROS FIRST.
SPEAKING OF
WHITE WALKERS, AND STEVE BANNON YOU HAVE A HELLUVA WHITE
WALKER AND HE JUST WALKED OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

DOWN GOES BANNON!!! DOWN GOES BANNON!!!

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