Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in an interview published Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon has “far too much” influence and “seems to be the strongest person” in Trump’s orbit.
“Do you think Steve Bannon is dangerous?” Yahoo!’s Katie Couric asked Schumer.
“I really worry about him,” Schumer said. “I worry about the alt-right stuff, I worry about when he was head of Breitbart News, the appeal to bigotry, I worry that he doesn’t respect the basic values of this country, absolutely.”
“Do you think he’s running the country?” Couric asked.
“I think he has too much influence. Far too much,” Schumer said.
He said that Trump “doesn’t seem to focus on things” and Bannon has “undue influence” as a result.
“Somebody who is focused and with a program, as bad as it is, will have undue influence,” Schumer said. “And he seems to be the strongest person in the Trump cabinet, in the Trump, you know, universe.”
“Would you like to see Steve Bannon fired?” Couric asked.
“Well, I don’t think Trump will ever do it,” Schumer said. “But if he would leave the administration that would be a good thing for the country and I would argue for Trump himself.”
Trump took steps in January apparently to restructure the National Security Council, adding Bannon to the principals committee in a departure from past administrations. President George W. Bush barred Karl Rove, his top political adviser, from council meetings, and President Barack Obama’s adviser David Axelrod never sat in on a principals committee meeting.
Watch below via Yahoo! News:
