Steve Bannon - Donald Trump's 'gamble'

(Baonghean) - After becoming the President-elect of the United States, billionaire Donald Trump has begun arranging his staff and future cabinet list by appointing Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff and Mr. Steve Bannon as Senior Advisor and Strategist. While the appointment of Mr. Priebus was only a little surprising, it was different with Bannon: Many people objected, even were angry and asked Mr. Donald Trump to withdraw this nomination.

A reckless gamble

Steve Bannon, 62, is known for his far-right ideology, his devotion to white people, and his dislike of the rise of feminism. Taking over Breitbart News in 2012 after the death of founder Andrew Breitbart, Bannon himself admitted that Breitbart has a fundamental right-wing viewpoint. Not only that, Steve Bannon is also said to have very little political experience.

Having served in the US Navy and then attended Harvard Business School, Mr. Bannon is better known for his high-profile acquisitions and mergers with Goldman Sachs. Therefore, when Mr. Steve Bannon was appointed as the Campaign Director of billionaire Donald Trump in mid-August, many people thought that Mr. Trump was taking a "reckless gamble."

Steve Bannon (right) stood by Donald Trump during the election campaign. Photo: Sputnik.

However, to this day, no one can deny the role of Steve Bannon in the historic victory of President-elect Donald Trump. While his predecessor, Paul Manafort, forced Trump to adhere to traditional campaign rules, with Bannon, Trump was free to follow his “instincts” as usual. Later analyses of Trump’s victory have shown the great contribution of the media.

Accordingly, at the time the press pressured Trump about his shocking statements - most likely "green-lighted" by Mr. Bannon - they did not expect that it would elevate the Republican candidate to a higher level. Mr. Donald Trump's victory in the battleground state of Wisconsin is the most typical example of Steve Bannon's "strategic talent".

During the campaign, Bannon noticed that Hillary Clinton's approach to Hispanics, African Americans, and white adults around 2000 was not as strong as Obama's in 2012. He believed that if Trump could take advantage of this weakness to attack the white working class, he could win Wisconsin - a place that has traditionally voted for the Democratic candidate since 1980.

And he was right when the results showed that Mr. Trump won by a narrow margin of 47.9% compared to Mrs. Clinton’s 46.9%. Mr. Donald Trump won the “risky gamble” once, so why would he refuse to play the game a second time by choosing Bannon for the position of Senior Advisor and Strategy?

Number 2 has real power

The press release announcing the appointment of two powerful positions in the White House said that Mr. Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon will have “equal roles.” However, analysts all agree that Mr. Steven Bannon is the real number 2 in the White House with a voice that has strong influence on Mr. Donald Trump.

On November 6, 2008, the day after his election, President Barack Obama announced only one position: Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff. The entire White House staff would report to Emanuel, including political advisers like David Axelrod.

Even in the Bush White House, with a White House Chief of Staff as incompetent as Andy Card, the most powerful person on the advisory team, Karl Rove, still had to report to Andy Card. Donald Trump’s precedent-breaking appointment of two equal positions in the White House is a hint that, under the Trump era, Bannon will be the leader of the “equal positions”.

Compared to Mr. Reince Priebus (right), Mr. Steve Bannon is the number 2 person in the White House. Photo: Breibart.

Like Donald Trump’s “first gamble”, Steve Bannon is also causing a stir in the US political world. A day after announcing the selection of Steve Bannon, Democratic Senators called on the President-elect to withdraw this decision.

Democratic senators and left-wing political groups in the US believe that Steve Bannon's racist and sexist tendencies could affect the goal of uniting the US that Mr. Trump declared in his first speech after winning. Even Republican congressmen are quite apprehensive about this appointment of Donald Trump: "The far-right and racist ideology is at the threshold of the Oval Office. America from now on needs to be careful and vigilant in any decision" - John Weaver, Republican Party member, advisor to the governor of Ohio said.

While Donald Trump has begun to arrange his staff and the list of his future cabinet, protests by the American people continue to take place in many cities in New York. But now, the wave of protests has spread to his own cabinet. People are waiting to see how Steve Bannon - as the "number 2 person in the White House" - will help Mr. Trump overcome the storm?

Thuy Ngoc