If you don’t have the twitter or breaking news wires spiked directly into your veins, for the last 10 or 20 minutes there have been a series of reports that Steve Bannon is out at the White House. First the news came from Drudge (who, whatever you think about him, is well-sourced on this front). The Times has now confirmed the story – but with a major caveat.
It appears that Bannon is “out” but not really gone. Like the decision has been made but it’s not clear when he’ll actually leave. Or, a bit differently, it seems that the news reports may be President Trump’s and the White House’s effort to humiliate Bannon into resigning even though the President hasn’t actually gotten up the nerve to fire him.
Remember, there’s been a history of people who have been “fired” from the White House and are yet still there days, weeks or even months later. Clearly something is happening. But it looks to be messy and almost certainly involves the President’s chronic inability to actually fire people to their faces as opposed to relying on public humiliations to do the job.
Late Update: Back to a classical universe, Bannon’s definitively out. Here’s the statement from the White House Press Secretary: “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”
