The president has claimed in the past to have excellent skills when it comes to picking the right people to surround himself, but a quick look at his administration proves otherwise.
Among the numerous scandal ridden individuals who have made exits from Washington, D.C., in recent months is Steve Bannon, who became one of the president’s advisers after having served as a chief executive of his campaign.
This week, reports surfaced about the content of a forthcoming book about the Trump team penned by Michael Wolff that made the reality television style administration rush to defend itself. In the book, Bannon is revealed to harbor harsh opinions of the Trump team, including an opinion that Donald Trump Jr.’s infamous 2016 meeting with a Kremlin connected lawyer was “treasonous.”
The president’s attempt at self defense took the same form that many other attempts at self defense on the part of the Trump administration take — namely, name calling and finger pointing. The president issued a statement saying that Bannon had “lost his mind.”
Now, however, a new report has emerged in the face of this back and forth that manages to paint the president in a freshly grim light.
The report concerns Trump’s reaction to the widely talked about domestic violence allegations against Bannon that stemmed from an incident back in 1996. Bannon was never prosecuted for those allegations when his then-wife, the woman Bannon had been violent towards, did not show up for a court hearing.
The president himself faces allegations of misconduct peppered throughout past decades, something that makes a new report about his response to the allegations against Bannon surfacing somewhat unsurprising.
POLITICO reporter Eliana Johnson made the revelation about Trump’s response to the domestic violence allegations against Bannon on Twitter this Thursday, writing as follows:
‘Was just told, by person present, that Trump referred to Bannon as “Bam Bam” after allegations of domestic abuse surfaced against him (Bannon) during the campaign. Trump told ppl: “Don’t worry abt Bam Bam, he’s locked away in a room working 20 hrs a day. He never comes out.”’
Trump, of course, is quite fond of nicknames, regularly employing them in reference to his political opponents. Infamously, for instance, he called Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” while literally standing in front of Native Americans.
This reported nickname, however, is different, with him using it to dismiss the seriousness of credibly alleged domestic violence. It makes you wonder if the Trump White House is a safe place for women and those who are often targeted by power hungry men.
Additionally, it shows yet again just how flippantly the Trump administration takes the overall issue of intimate partner violence in the United States, which goes hand-in-hand with the recently widely highlighted issue of sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. While much of the nation has worked towards addressing the epidemic of sexual misconduct, the president has kicked back making cracks about domestic violence. That’s not at all a good look for the president of the United States, but here we are anyway, with the president at least as concerned with distancing himself from Steve Bannon as anything else.
Featured Image via Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
