Democrats Say Bannon’s Ouster Not Enough

By Eric Garcia

Posted August 18, 2017 at 2:42pm

Democrats are glad President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon is gone, but they say change is needed from the top down.

Democratic members of Congress hammered the president for choosing Bannon, the former Breitbart executive, to plot strategy in the White House in the first place. And they said if the president wants to repair the damage he has done, he should look inward.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York went even farther, referring to the president as the “Grand Wizard in the Oval Office.”

Bannon may be gone, but things won’t change if Grand Wizard remains in Oval Office #Birther-in-Chief

— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) August 18, 2017

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Bannon’s exit won’t erase Trump’s history of “advancing repulsive policies.”

Steve Bannon’s exit does not erase @realDonaldTrump’s long record of lifting up racist viewpoints & advancing repulsive policies. #BannonOut

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) August 18, 2017

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said “it’s the president that matters” and it was important to “remember how little of a difference it makes with this president.”

It’s the President that matters.

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) August 18, 2017

Personnel changes are fascinating and dramatic but let’s just remember how little of a difference it makes with this President.

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) August 18, 2017

Rep. Ted Lieu, a frequent critic of Trump, compared Bannon’s firing to “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Firing of Steve Bannon is more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. It’s like firing the first officer. But problem is still @POTUS. https://t.co/8TadrsrzWa

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 18, 2017

Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said the next people in line for removal should be White House advisers Sebastian Gorka, who worked with Bannon at Breitbart, and Stephen Miller, who espouses similar right-wing nationalist views to those of Bannon.

#Bannon today. Next up: the removal of Sebastian Gorka, Stephen Miller, and Confederate symbols! https://t.co/MDmNQzjZDB

— Adriano Espaillat (@RepEspaillat) August 18, 2017

Rep. David E. Price of North Carolina said the move won’t “end bigotry and incompetence in the White House.”

.@realDonaldTrump removing one white supremacist doesn’t end bigotry and incompetence in the White House. #BannonOut https://t.co/kqNFebwYl0

— David E. Price (@RepDavidEPrice) August 18, 2017

Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz, who is running for governor, said “much more must be done.”

No one w/ ties to white supremacist movements should ever serve in our @WhiteHouse. Bannon’s exit was long overdue. Much more must be done.

— Tim Walz (@RepTimWalz) August 18, 2017

Rep. Sander M. Levin said given Trump’s remarks after racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which Trump said “both sides” were to blame that the president needed to do more to convince people that he does not espouse the same views as Bannon.

Steve Bannon’s exit from the White House is long overdue. However, given President Trump’s agenda…1/

— Sandy Levin (@repsandylevin) August 18, 2017

esp. after his comments this past week about the violence in Charlottesville, he has much more work to do to convince the American ppl… 2/

— Sandy Levin (@repsandylevin) August 18, 2017

that he eschews racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism, and is working to unite – not divide – our country. 3/3

— Sandy Levin (@repsandylevin) August 18, 2017

There were others who were just happy to see Bannon gone.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse thought it was fitting that as Confederate memorials were being taken down, so, too, was Bannon.

Steve Bannon traded on fear and racial animus on the Trump campaign, and he embodied that toxic spirit in the White House.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 18, 2017

Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts’ reaction was direct and to the point.