President-Elect Trump's Appointment of Stephen Bannon as Chief Strategist

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, on November 13, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint Stephen Bannon, a Breitbart News executive, as chief strategist and senior counselor to the President.
In response to this announcement, Richard Cohen--the president of the

Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups in the United States--issued the following statement about Mr. Bannon and his past work:

``Stephen Bannon, a man who led a media empire into becoming what a former Breitbart editor called `a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers,' simply has no business in the White House.

``In July, Bannon boasted that Breitbart News was `the platform for the alt-right.' The alt-right, as we know, is simply a rebranding of white nationalism and is the energy behind the avalanche of racist and anti-Semitic harassment that plagued social media platforms for the entire presidential campaign. Once the news of Bannon's appointment hit white supremacist websites last night, forums like Stormfront erupted in celebration.
``In his victory speech, Trump pledged to be the president for `all Americans' and to `bind the wounds of division' in our country.

Appointing someone like Bannon, who will have the president-elect's ear every single day, makes a mockery of that pledge.''

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