Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Steve Bannon as a top adviser has inspired heated debates, even among Republicans.
CNN commentators Kurt Bardella and Jeffrey Lord sparred on “New Day” Monday over whether Bannon’s appointment was a good choice by the President-elect, and what this means for Breitbart, a notoriously conservative news organization of which Bannon was the executive chairman before he joined the Trump campaign.
“(Breitbart represents) a world view that is incredibly dangerous and divisive,” said Bardella, who previously served as a media consultant for the company. “Breitbart has gone from being the propaganda arm of the Trump campaign to being the propaganda arm of the Trump White House. This should be concerning to all Americans.”
But Lord, former White House political director for Ronald Reagan, is not concerned. He said he reads Breitbart daily, and believes the rest of the media is being too critical of Bannon.
“I think he’s been smeared, to be perfectly candid,” Lord told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
That’s a stark contrast to Bardella’s opinion — he called Bannon “very aggressive” and “attack-oriented.”
The disagreement went further, with Bardella accusing Lord of lying to Americans, and Lord questioning Bardella’s experience.
“I think you’re picking the wrong target for your criticism,” Cuomo told Lord, noting that Bardella previously worked for Republican congressman Darrell Issa.
Cuomo also pointed out that Bardella and Lord are on the same home team, in terms of going after Obama, highlighting the party infighting that started during Trump’s campaign and is clearly not going away despite the election being over.
