President Trump’s former top aid, chief White House strategist and campaign CEO has stepped down from Breitbart News Network, where he served as Executive Chairman since 2012.
In January 2018, upon the publication of the book Fire and Fury which included many controversial and inflammatory statements by Bannon, Bannon and Trump became estranged and were widely seen as enemies. The book quoted Bannon as saying that Ivanka Trump was “as dumb as a brick”, that the meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and agents of Russia was “treasonous”and that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller would cause Donald Trump Jr. to “crack like an egg on live television”.
Bannon also warned that investigators would likely uncover money laundering involving Jared Kushner and his family business loans from Deutsche Bank.
Trump promptly disavowed Bannon, saying that Bannon “lost his mind” when he left the White House, and attacking him in multiple angry statements. In a tweet on the evening of January 4, 2018, Trump referred to Bannon as “Sloppy Steve.”
Bannon’s position as head of Breitbart News was called into question by Breitbart’s owners, because of the feud with Trump. It became a choice between siding with Breitbart or with Trump or risk losing all of trump’s supporters as readers.
On January 7, 2018, Bannon expressed regret over his delay at responding, declared his unwavering support for President Trump and his agenda, and praised Donald Trump Jr.
According to Breitbart CEO Larry Solov, “Steve is a valued part of our legacy, and we will always be grateful for his contributions, and what he has helped us to accomplish.”
