Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean called President-elect Donald Trump’s chief strategist pick Steve Bannon “a Nazi.”
In an interview with Canada’s CTV News, Dean, who is running for Democratic National Committee chair, a spot left vacant by former Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, called Bannon anti-Semitic, in addition to being “anti-Black and … anti-women.”
“It’s a big word and I don’t usually use it unless somebody’s really anti-Semitic, really misogynistic, really anti-Black,” Dean continued, adding that Trump is “a complicated guy.”
Bannon, a former executive chair of alt-right Breitbart News, was appointed by the President-elect to serve as chief strategist, making him one of the most powerful people entering the White House with Trump come January. The position does not requite Senate approval.
CNN has reached out to Trump’s transition team for comment and have not yet gotten a response.
Bannon, a controversial figure, defended himself from critics Monday in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, proclaiming that he is not a white nationalist, but rather an “economic nationalist” who has urged President-elect Trump to engage with minority communities while on the trail.