Former White House aide Steve Bannon has stepped down as executive chairman of Breitbart News, just days after a public break with President Donald Trump over comments published in a book.
A brief statement from the right-wing news organization confirmed that Bannon had stepped down, but a reason for his sudden resignation was not given. It said Bannon will work with the company to ensure a smooth and orderly transition.
“I’m proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform,” said Bannon, who had served as the site’s executive chairman since 2012, except for about a year as he worked with Trump.
Bannon came under fire after he was quoted in the best-selling book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”
According to the book, Bannon said it was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for Trump campaign officials to meet with Russians during the 2016 campaign. Trump’s elder son, Donald Trump Jr., was one of three campaign officials who were attending the meeting.
Bannon also called Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter and a top White House adviser, “dumb as a brick.”
Trump lashed out in a written statement, saying his former chief strategist in the White House has “nothing to do with me” or his administration. “When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump said in the statement.
Bannon later tried to downplay the quotes attributed to him, saying his comments were aimed at Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort, not the president’s son, who he referred to as a “patriot and a good man.”
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