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Democrats Say Bannon’s Ouster Not Enough

Jeffries says ‘things won't change if Grand Wizard remains in Oval Office’

Democrats say the ouster of White House adviser Steve Bannon is a good first step. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
Democrats say the ouster of White House adviser Steve Bannon is a good first step. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Democrats are glad President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon is gone,  but they say change is needed from the top down.

Democratic members of Congress hammered the president for choosing Bannon, the former Breitbart executive, to plot strategy in the White House in the first place. And they said if the president wants to repair the damage he has done, he should look inward.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York went even farther, referring to the president as the “Grand Wizard in the Oval Office.”

 

 

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Bannon’s exit won’t erase Trump’s history of “advancing repulsive policies.”

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said “it’s the president that matters” and it was important to “remember how little of a difference it makes with this president.”

 Rep. Ted Lieu, a frequent critic of Trump, compared Bannon’s firing to “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” 

Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said the next people in line for removal should be White House advisers Sebastian Gorka, who worked with Bannon at Breitbart, and Stephen Miller, who espouses similar right-wing nationalist views to those of Bannon.

Rep. David E. Price of North Carolina said the move won’t “end bigotry and incompetence in the White House.”

Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz, who is running for governor, said “much more must be done.”

Rep. Sander M. Levin said given Trump’s remarks after racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which Trump said “both sides” were to blame that the president needed to do more to convince people that he does not espouse the same views as Bannon. 

There were others who were just happy to see Bannon gone.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse thought it was fitting that as Confederate memorials were being taken down, so, too, was Bannon.

Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts’ reaction was direct and to the point.

Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida saw the silver lining in the news.

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