House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi applauded the exit of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon Friday, but said his removal from the administration doesn’t prove President Donald Trump isn’t sympathetic to white nationalist movement.
The California Democrat called for Bannon’s termination earlier in the week, alleging he is an “an alt-right white supremacist sympathizer and a shameless enforcer of those un-American beliefs.” Pelosi blasted the president and Bannon following Trump’s decision to double down on his remarks both sides were responsible for the violent outbreak at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday.
“Steve Bannon’s firing is welcome news, but it doesn’t disguise where President Trump himself stands on white supremacists and the bigoted beliefs they advance,” she said in a statement. “President Trump’s growing record of repulsive statements is matched by his repulsive policies.”
Pelosi argued removing Bannon from the White House is meaningless unless Trump opts to shift away from a nationalist policy approach.
“Personnel changes are worthless so long as President Trump continues to advance policies that disgrace our cherished American values,” she continued.
She went on to call for the termination of Bannon’s allies that remain in the White House.
“The Trump Administration must not only purge itself of the remaining white supremacists on staff, but abandon the bigoted ideology that clearly governs its decisions,” she concluded.
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