House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on President Donald Trump to fire Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on Monday, alleging he is sympathetic to the white supremacist movement.
Her comments follow a violent outburst at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, which resulted in three fatalities and more than 30 injuries. Pelosi accused Bannon — who has faced allegations of being racist and homophobic since joining Trump’s team — of perpetuating ideals that don’t align with nation’s core values.
“The president’s statement on Saturday was a direct reflection of the fact that his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is an alt-right white supremacist sympathizer and a shameless enforcer of those un-American beliefs,” Pelosi said in a statement Monday. “In his long overdue statement today, President Trump called white supremacists ‘repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.’ If the president is sincere about rejecting white supremacists, he should remove all doubt by firing Steve Bannon and the other alt-right white supremacist sympathizers in the White House.”
This is not the first time Pelosi has come out against the top adviser, the California Democrat previously blasted the president’s decision to place Bannon on the National Security Council — which he was later removed from — saying his presence would make “America less safe.”
“From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination,” she continued in the statement. “President Trump’s failure to immediately denounce white supremacy is well in line with the unmistakable conduct of his Administration toward immigrants, Muslims, and communities of color.”
Pelosi went on to slam Trump for failing to directly come out against white supremacy sooner.
“It shouldn’t take the President of the United States two days to summon the basic decency to condemn murder and violence by Nazis and white supremacists,” she said.
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