Colleague: Bannon Said Curbing Black Vote Wouldn’t Be ‘Such A Bad Thing’

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, file photo, Stephen Bannon, campaign CEO for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, looks on as Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Denver. Following the installati... FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, file photo, Stephen Bannon, campaign CEO for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, looks on as Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Denver. Following the installation of Breitbart's chief executive, Bannon, to a top job in President-elect Trump's administration, the news organization in its infancy when Barack Obama took office has big expansion plans and the goal of being the best source of news on the new administration. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The former screenwriting partner of Donald Trump’s senior aide Steve Bannon said that he once mused that it might be beneficial to restrict African Americans’ voting access.

Writer Julia Jones told the New York Times in an interview that Bannon, who was recently named as Trump’s chief White House strategist, would occasionally claim that some people were genetically superior and once suggested that the vote should be limited to property owners.

Jones said she told Bannon that such a policy would “exclude a lot of African-Americans.”

According to Jones, Bannon replied, “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

Jones asked specifically about his longtime executive assistant Wendy Colbert, who is black.

“She’s different. She’s family,” Jones said he replied.

Before joining Trump’s team, Bannon helped transform Breitbart News into a “platform” for the alt-right, an amorphous coalition of white nationalists, anti-Semites, and Islamophobes. He also put out a number of films boosting right-wing politicians, including the 2004 Ronald Reagan documentary “In the Face of Evil,” which he co-wrote with Jones.

Jones, who described herself to the Times as very liberal, insisted that Bannon was “not a racist” but instead “using the alt-right—using them for power.”

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: