In the unending stream of diversions the White House is pushing to obscure their failing agenda, comes this explanation following news that almighty White House strongman Steve Bannon finally got kicked off the National Security Council (though, for now, he remains a top White House adviser.)
Allow me to second the amusement of Daniel Drezner. Here’s another head-scatcher—Bannon as voice of moderation:
“Steve was put there as a check on [Mike] Flynn,” the second official said, referring to the former national security adviser who was forced to resign in February over undisclosed contacts with Russia. With Gen. McMaster now in charge, “there was no longer a need [for Bannon] because they share the same views,” the official said.
Nice try. Apparently, the White House never trusted that Flynn guy who Donald Trump put in charge of his entire national security team.
Here’s the simple truth: Bannon got shit-canned. It's quite possible that this is the latest installment of an internal power struggle between the Kushner/Ivanka bloc of the White House and the Bannon bloc. Whatever the case, Bannon lost, and probably in no small part due to the fact that the Devin Nunes debacle orchestrated by the guy who Bannon fought to save on the National Security Council—Ezra Cohen-Watnick—blew up in Trump's face.
We may never know exactly why Bannon got shit-canned, but one thing's for sure: It didn't have anything to do with Susan Rice. That's just Bannon desperately grasping at straws to save face.
Because only weaklings get demoted. There's not much power in that, is there?