Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley said Monday that President-elect Donald Trump should take care not to let the combative style from the campaign derail his priorities while leading the nation.
Daley, the son of Chicago political legend Richard Daley and President Barack Obama’s former top staffer, said that Trump’s decision to make Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon equals in the new White House may make sense, but could cause trouble in the long run.
“Bannon, who obviously helped drive the strategy and the political positioning of Mr. Trump during the election is very controversial as you’ve said, but somebody who obviously the President-elect has great faith in,” Daley told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “So there’s a conflict to the outside world. I don’t think the inside the world, the Trump world, views this as much of a conflict. I think it’s exactly where President-elect Trump is and that is he’s got two competing forces that he wants to compete and that may be a good thing for his presidency.”
Bannon’s selection as chief strategist — a role complementary to Priebus new job as White House chief of staff — has sparked outcry from people who have noted his website, Breitbart.com, has used racist and bigoted language throughout the campaign.
Bannon is largely credited with supporting Trump’s combative style at a time in the campaign when other aides wanted him to stay on script.
“Much of the campaign after Mr. Bannon came in was very reflective (of his style) — the aggressiveness on so many issues, the allowing of social media to get a little out of hand,” Daley said. In one instance, Trump drew heat after blasting former Miss Universe in a series of late-night tweets.
But Trump has promised to be more conciliatory since winning the White House and, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” called on his supporters to not use racist language.
“Mr. Bannon took this campaign and took a certain tack and it worked, I get that, it worked. So therefore you can celebrate that. But the fact is, that may make — if that’s translated on a constant basis in Washington — fighting not only his opponents, but his own expected allies in a very aggressive and sometimes controversial, very controversial way and also offending much of America,” Daley said. “And that’s the struggle that I think President-elect Trump’s going to have to manage.”