Bannon’s Enduring Influence

James Hohmann: “Reports of Stephen Bannon’s death might be greatly exaggerated. President Trump’s wholehearted embrace of Confederate monuments as a new wedge issue underscores how much juice the White House’s chief strategist still has. Bannon has been in the doghouse, and Trump resents how much credit he’s gotten for his victory last November. But even if he loses his government job, which is still a possibility, the former chairman of Breitbart News’s brand of populism and scorched-earth tactics will continue to heavily influence Trump’s approach to governing.”

“Trump’s sudden decision to become the leading cheerleader for preserving Confederate memorials is a strategic political maneuver designed to change the terms of the post-Charlottesville conversation. There’s vastly more public support, especially among Republicans, for preserving monuments than for the false moral equivalencies Trump espoused earlier in the week. It’s also a distraction from the failure to follow through on his biggest promises and the mounting Russia investigations.”