Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s ex-chief strategist, has stepped down from the right-wing Breitbart News organisation where he built his reputation.<\/p>\n
The move comes amid a furore over remarks he reportedly made about President Donald Trump’s son.<\/p>\n
He described a meeting Donald Trump Jr held in New York with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election campaign as “treasonous”.<\/p>\n
He was one of Mr Trump’s most trusted – and controversial – aides.<\/p>\n
But he left his post last summer after reports of a power struggle among Mr Trump’s White House staff.<\/p>\n
His subsequent attempt to take on the Republican establishment suffered a severe blow when Roy Moore, the Senate candidate he championed in a special election in Alabama, lost to a Democrat – the first time that party has won in the state in decades.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump has recently taken to referring to Mr Bannon as “Sloppy Steve”, a derogatory reference to his former aide’s famously dishevelled appearance.<\/p>\n
And Rebekah Mercer, a wealthy benefactor of Mr Bannon, said at the weekend she had ended her support for his political efforts.<\/p>\n
Last Sunday Mr Bannon insisted that his “treason” comments – quoted in an inside account of the Trump White House, Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury – were not directed at Mr Trump’s son but at another former aide, Paul Manafort, who was also present at the meeting in Trump Tower.<\/p>\n
The Senate, House of Representatives and a special counsel are all investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, allegations denied by both the Kremlin and Mr Trump.<\/p>\n
Mr Bannon had served as executive chairman of Breitbart since 2012.<\/p>\n
Breitbart published a statement\u00a0saying it and Mr Bannon would “work together on a smooth and orderly transition”.<\/p>\n
It quoted Mr Bannon as saying: “I’m proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform.”<\/p>\n
Breitbart CEO Larry Solov was quoted as saying: “Steve is a valued part of our legacy, and we will always be grateful for his contributions, and what he has helped us to accomplish.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s ex-chief strategist, has stepped down from the right-wing Breitbart News organisation where he built his reputation. The move comes amid a furore over remarks he reportedly made about President Donald Trump’s son. He described a meeting Donald Trump Jr held in New York with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":390232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[16015,15942,109],"yoast_head":"\n