Bernie Sanders: Remove Steve Bannon From National Security Council
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is calling for the removal right wing extremist and proponent of the alt-right Steve Bannon from the National Security Council (NSC). Bannon is the former editor in chief of Breitbart, a dubious source of ‘news’ with a white nationalist slant and which he pronounced “the platform for the alt-right.” Bannon served on the Donald Trump presidential campaign team and is the White House chief strategist. As if that isn’t terrifying enough, on Saturday President Trump appointed Bannon to the NSC, and kicked out the Director of National Intelligence.
Steve Bannon sitting on the National Security Council is dangerous and unprecedented. He must be removed.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 30, 2017
We need experienced people who will protect our country on the National Security Council, not an extreme right-wing political operative.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 30, 2017
The appointment was so absurd that there was a rare moment of bipartisan criticism. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said he is “worried about the National Security Council. “Susan Rice, a former National Security Adviser under former President Barack Obama and former Ambassador to the UN, called Trump’s decision “stone cold crazy.” She lamented his penchant for replacing experienced experts with nutty ideologues, and the catastrophic threat this poses to security.
This is stone cold crazy. After a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intell to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK? https://t.co/Mmyc139w3M
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017
Security decisions should be informed by objective risk management, not by political ideologies. Trump’s decision to replace the Director of National Intelligence with Bannon shows a disregard for this fundamental principle. At the end of the day, whether they are liberal or conservative, we need experts on the NSC who know how to keep Americans safe. Bannon only knows how to run an online fake news outlet and pander to white nationalists.
