Twitter users reacted Sunday to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that Reince Priebus will serve as his chief of staff and Stephen Bannon will serve as chief strategist and senior counselor.
Pundits and politicians praised Priebus, while others slammed Bannon, the former head of the alt-right Brietbart News.
Priebus is currently the chairman of the Republican National Committee, while Bannon served as the chief executive officer for Trump’s presidential campaign.
Fellow Wisconsinites Paul Ryan and Scott Walker praised the choice for chief of staff, while former Ted Cruz staffer Amanda Carpenter said Priebus would “make the trains run” in the White House.
Louisiana Senate candidate and ex-KKK leader David Duke seemed less enthusiastic about the pick of Priebus, who is aligned with GOP leadership.
The reaction to Bannon’s elevated role was critical and swift. A spokesman for retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a vocal critic of Trump, said the hire “signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels” of the new administration.
Intelligence committee ranking Democrat Adam Schiff called Bannon “anti-Semitic” and “misogynistic.”
Bannon has been widely criticized by the left for articles Brietbart ran while he was in charge.
Democrats worked hard during the campaign to link Trump to the “alt-right” movement and associate him with racist and anti-Semitic groups.
They highlighted some of Breitbart’s controversial headlines, including one about Never Trump Republican and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol: “Republican spoiler, renegade Jew.
And Bannon’s ex-wife said in divorce proceedings made public in August that he didn’t want their daughters to attend a Los Angeles school because of “the number of Jews,” a claim he denies.
Updated 9:14 p.m.