Democrat Nancy Pelosi accuses 'white supremacist' Trump aide of making America 'less safe'
DEMOCRAT Nancy Pelosi branded Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon a “white supremacist” twice during a Capitol Hill press conference.
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The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives blasted President Trump’s administration for the appointment and called it a “stunning thing”.
She said: “What's making America less safe is to have a white supremacist named to the National Security Council as a permanent member, while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of National Intelligence are told, ‘don’t call us, we'll call you, you’re no longer permanent members, we’ll call you when we need [to].”
Mrs Pelosi had been referring to the US leader’s reshuffle of the principles committee of the NSC, which involved adding Mr Bannon, the former boss of right-wing news site Breitbart.
Nancy Pelosi accused Steve Bannon of being a "white supremacist"
It's a stunning thing, that a white supremacist would be a permanent member of the National Security Council
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer refuted claims the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of National Intelligence were demoted, calling reports “utter nonsense”.
He added: “They are at every NSC meeting and are welcome to attend every principles meeting as well.”
The White House has also defended the appointment of Mr Bannon by saying Barack Obama’s advisor David Axelrod would sometimes sit in.
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But Mrs Pelosi remained displeased with Donald Trump’s move.
“It's a stunning thing,” she said. “That a white supremacist would be a permanent member of the National Security Council.”
The outburst comes a day after the politician was caught on a “hot” microphone prompting a congressman to tell anti-Trump demonstrators that he is Muslim.
The embarrassing moment came during a C-SPAN broadcast covering demonstrations in Washington DC after President Trump introduced a travel ban on seven Muslim countries.
Mrs Pelosi is heard repeatedly telling André Carson to “tell them your Muslim” as he introduced himself to a crowd.