Bannon's Ouster Welcomed, But Much Bigger Problem Remains in White House: Trump

“The problem was never just Steve Bannon. It was and always will be Donald Trump.”

That’s how Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) responded to news that Friday would the last day on the job for Trump’s top political strategist.

“The larger and more urgent crisis however is that a white supremacist sympathizer is the president of the United States.”
—Ultraviolet

Others echoed Sanders on the heels of the breaking reports, saying that while Bannon’s departure is a welcome step, the fight against white nationalism is far from over.

“Bannon has unquestionably been a driving force behind the racial turmoil that threatens to tear this country apart. Such a divisive figure has no place in the White House,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement.

“While it is appropriate that Steve Bannon go, his departure is not enough,” Clarke concluded. “The Trump administration must end its pursuit of policies that promote the marginalization of minority communities which emboldens the very white nationalists who descended on Charlottesville last weekend.”

Echoing this argument, UltraViolet said on Friday: “Good riddance Steve. The larger and more urgent crisis however is that a white supremacist sympathizer is the president of the United States.”

Friends of the Earth also weighed in:

It is unclear whether Bannon resigned or if Trump, who has of late been under pressure to remove the “nationalist wing” of his administration, ultimately decided to fire him.