WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
7:32 a.m.
Reince Priebus says Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon has been a hard worker and sober decision maker in the months the two have steered Donald Trump toward the presidency.
Trump’s newly named White House chief of staff told NBC’s “Today” show that Bannon has exhibited none of the racist, sexist or other qualities attributed to him and the Breitbart website.
The site specializes in button-pushing, traffic-trolling headlines, including one that called conservative commentator Bill Kristol a “Republican spoiler, renegade Jew.” Others asked, “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer?” and “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy.”
Priebus says those things weren’t Bannon’s writing. He expects to work with Bannon as a partner in slightly different roles the Trump administration.
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7:05 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is making an overture to Republican circles by naming GOP chief Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff. He’s also fired a shot across the Washington establishment’s bow by tapping Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor.
The two men had made up the president-elect’s chief of staff shortlist, and while Priebus received that job, Bannon’s post also is expected to wield significant clout. The media executive with ties to the alt-right and white nationalist movement was given top billing in the press release announcing their appointments.
Trump’s hires announced Sunday were, at first glance, contradictory. But they fit a pattern of the celebrity businessman creating a veritable Rorschach test that allowed his supporters to see what they wanted.