Former Breitbart News chief and controversial advisor to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, was granted a regular seat during National Security Council meetings. The former news publisher now has permanent access to meetings where some of the nation’s most sensitive information exchanges hands. In a memorandum issued by the president on Saturday, Bannon is now part of a complete reorganization of the National Security Council.
In a move that has many people in both the Republican and Democratic parties shaking their heads, the president also ordered that the director of national intelligence and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff will only attend NSC meetings when the committee needs their expertise. By contrast, both President Barak Obama and President George W. Bush granted regular seats to his joint chiefs’ chairman and director of national intelligence.
Steve Bannon was a controversial pick as a senior advisor to President Trump due to some of his extreme views. Bannon considers himself an economic nationalist and a “Leninist”, and he has stated many times that he considers the media an “opposition party.”
He also came under heavy criticism for some of the articles that were posted on his controversial news website, Breitbart News. Several of the articles contained sexist and racist comments that many felt were a direct reflection of Bannon’s views and his character.