Lowey Decries Trump Appointee's Links to White Supremacists

Rep. Nita Lowey, newly re-elected Congresswoman from New York's 17th district, has expressed profound concern at President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Chief White House Strategist and Senior Counselor: Steve Bannon.

Bannon's star rose in August when the Republican nominee tapped the Breitbart News Chairman for a new position as campaign chief executive. In announcing the new campaign leadership, Trump praised Bannon, noting that he shared his "message and vision."

In a 2015 article about him, Bloomberg News called Bannon "the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America."

Now Bannon will be Trump's chief strategist and senior advisor in the White House, carrying the flag for the alt-right movement described in Breitbart as "addicted to provocation" and believing among other things that immigration into the United States must be stopped or drastically slowed and "that culture is inseparable from race...that some degree of separation between peoples is necessary for a culture to be preserved."

"Once the news of Bannon’s appointment hit white supremacist websites last night, forums like Stormfront erupted in celebration," Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen said Monday. "The alt-right, as we know, is simply a rebranding of white nationalism and is the energy behind the avalanche of racist and anti-Semitic harassment that plagued social media platforms for the entire presidential campaign."

On Monday, Lowey (Rockland/Westchester), the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on Bannon's appointment:

“This is a tenuous time in our country following a historic election that split the popular vote from the electoral college. If President-elect Trump wants to fulfill his promise of being a leader for all Americans, he must refrain from dividing us any further. That is why I am profoundly concerned that one of the President-elect’s first appointments is Steve Bannon, a well-known supporter of alt-right, extremist ideology including white nationalism and anti-Semitism.

“In the last week, we’ve already seen reports of rising vandalism and intimidation across the country including swastikas graffitied on schools and sidewalks – even in my own district on the Bronx River bike path. Not only is such behavior unacceptable, it must be universally denounced and stopped. It is my sincere hope that the President-elect will recognize that words matter and do everything in his power to combat anti-Semitism, intolerance, and bigotry, including by replacing Bannon with a qualified candidate.”

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