President Donald Trump could face massive blowback if he were to decide to pull the trigger and fire senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, White House and Breitbart insiders are claiming.
In an interview with Politico, one ally of Bannon claimed, "It’s not like it’s definitely going to be ‘Apocalypse Now,’ but it could be, and that’s the point,” before adding, "Do you really want to gamble with this in your first 100 days?”
Bannon's status with the president has been shaky for weeks since Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has become more involved in advising the president on everything from foreign policy and to military matters. While Kushner, because he is related to Trump, would be extremely difficult to move aside, Trump could dump Bannon to decrease friction in a chaotic White House -- but at a cost.
“He’ll have his minions eviscerate you on Twitter and write articles with fake information. You will be attacked and lied about,” explained conservative media consultant Cheri Jacobus. “Bannon can launch something, and there’s an army of people who are part of the alt-right that will then pick up on it and they know what to do. It’s like a chain reaction.”
Jacobus also stated that -- since Bannon was so deeply involved in the Trump campaign and now has a extensive knowledge of the White House inner working and dynamics -- he would use what he knows to go after Trump and his enemies in the administration.
Former Breitbart writer Dana Loesch, who left the website after battling with the management and claiming they tried to "sabotage" he career, concurred, saying, “The hit pieces on Breitbart will increase, for sure.”
With Bannon on the outside, he would likely return to Breitbart and try and influence policy from the outside by using the website to hammer at Trump who has proven to be hypersensitive to how the media covers him.
Noting the number of hit pieces in on the website attacking Bannon foe Kushner, former Breitbart exec Kurt Bardella explained, “I don’t believe that he ever really stopped being at the helm of Breitbart.”