WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump showed his support to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon’s shift to Breitbart News by saying, “Fake News needs the competition,” “Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at @BreitbartNews...maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition,” Trump tweeted.
Bannon had returned at the helm of conservative Breitbart News website and chaired the outlet's evening editorial meeting on Friday. "I feel jacked up, now I'm free. I've got my hands back on my weapons. Someone said, 'it's Bannon the Barbarian. I am definitely going to crush the opposition. There's no doubt. I built a f***ing machine at Breitbart. And, now I'm about to go back, knowing what I know, and we're about to rev that machine up. And rev it up we will do," the Weekly Standard quoted Bannon, as saying.
Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow welcomed Bannon back by saying that Breitbart had "gained an executive chairman with his finger on the pulse of the UnitedStatess President Donald Trump agenda."
Earlier in a tweet, Trump had also thanked Bannon for his service and described his work during his election campaign against democrat Hillary Clinton as 'great'. "I want to thank Steve Bannon for his service. He came to the campaign during my run against Crooked Hillary Clinton - it was great! Thanks," Trump tweeted.
Bannon, who helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election, was ousted as the White House chief strategist on Friday. The White House released a statement on Friday saying that Bannon and White House chief of staff John Kelly had "mutually agreed" that Friday would be Bannon's last day in his capacity.
After being fired from his job at the White House, Bannon vowed to fight for the agenda that won Trump the election. "The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over. We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency," the Telegraph quoted Bannon as saying to the Weekly Standard, a right-wing newspaper. "But that presidency is over. It'll be something else. And there'll be all kinds of fights, and there'll be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over," he added.
The removal of the former Breitbart editor as Trump's chief strategist marks a remarkable rise and fall for a rightwing ideologue regarded by some as the power behind the throne. His absence makes more room for figures such as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and the national economic council chair, Gary Cohn.
Bannon's departure makes him the sixth top-shelf aide to depart from the Trump administration since the president' January 20 inauguration, including former national security adviser Gen. Mike Flynn, chief of staff Reince Priebus, press secretary Sean Spicer and two communications directors - Mike Dubke and Anthony Scaramucci.