It was a shocking move when President Trump appointed former media executive Steve Bannon to the National Security Council back in January. And it was just as shocking to learn this week that Bannon had been removed from said council. What's going on behind the scenes? Political junkies didn't have to wait long to find out—sources told the Daily Beast that Bannon and Jared Kushner, the President's senior advisor and son-in-law, are "fighting nonstop."
They are both Trump insiders, so what is there to fight about? Apparently Bannon and Kushner disagree about almost everything. "It's all about policy. There's tension [between them] on trade, health care, immigration, taxes, [terrorism]—you name it," said a senior official.
[pullquote align='C']"Here's the reason there's no middle ground. You're a Democrat."[/pullquote]
Two policy efforts led by Bannon—the Muslim travel ban and Trumpcare—were both big, public failures, which is increasing the tension, says the report. Now it seems Bannon has sunk to straight-up name-calling. Bannon "recently vented to us about Jared being a 'globalist' and a 'cuck'... He actually said 'cuck,' as in 'cuckservative,'" the source said. (Per Urban Dictionary, a cuckservative is "a self-styled 'conservative' who will cravenly sell out and undermine his home country's people, culture, and national interest in order to win approval with parties hostile or indifferent to them.)
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Despite the fact that cuckservative derives from the word "cuckold" (i.e. the husband of an adultress) it still doesn't seem to be the nastiest insult Bannon has hurled Kushner's way. According to the New York Times, there's been another: Democrat. "Here's the reason there's no middle ground. You're a Democrat," Bannon said to Kushner this week. And in fairness, the Trump and Kushner families both have long histories of donating to and endorsing Democrats (including Hillary Clinton)... right up until Donald decided to run for president,as a Republican.
No one knows how this cattiness will develop over the coming weeks and months of the Trump administration. But with the many things on the president's plate, playing referee between his two besties shouldn't be one of them.
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