Long before Donald Trump became the president of the United States, his now-chief strategist Steve Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions were already working on their shared vision of a new America.
The two controversial figures, who now hold great power in the White House, saw Trump as a 鈥渧essel for their brand of Republicanism,鈥� New York Times Magazine鈥檚 Emily Bazelon about the men and ideologies behind Trump鈥檚 anti-immigration policies.
The article, titled 鈥淒epartment of Justification,鈥� examines the genesis of the working relationship between Bannon, Sessions and Stephen Miller, now a senior Trump adviser. That relationship is 鈥渃rucial to understanding the far-reaching domestic goals of the Trump presidency and how the law may be used to attain them over the next four years,鈥� Bazelon writes.
鈥淚 think Bannon and Sessions have a nostalgia for a past version of the United States that had fewer people of colour, that had more of a traditional European and Christian demographic,鈥� Bazelon told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Monday.
鈥淎nd the threat that Bannon and Sessions see is really the way in which the country is changing and they seem determined to try and stave off that change.鈥�
Before Bannon entered the White House, he was the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a far-right, nationalistic website that often demonized immigrants and Americans of colour. Now, he seems to wield great power in the U.S. administration 鈥渁nd has a lot of access to the president,鈥� Bazelon told 麻豆传媒 Channel.
Bannon鈥檚 influence is now also reflected in Trump鈥檚 latest travel ban. The executive order bans new visas for citizens from six Muslim-majority countries, and halts the entire U.S. refugee program for 120 days.
