Steve Bannon - Trump's Chief Strategist: I Come from Pro-Union Family of Democrats

• 11.15.2016, 16:18
•  America

AP

On Sunday night Mr Trump’s team confirmed Steve Bannon as Donald Trump's chief strategist. He has been described as ''the most dangerous political operative in America.'' Now he is one of the most powerful.

Yet Mr Trump will be delighted to have Mr Bannon by his side. If the president-elect really was looking for someone to shake things up in Washington, he has found it with Mr Bannon whom he described as ''highly qualified leader'', The Telegraph reports.

Born in a poor family in Norfolk, Virginia, Mr Bannon grew up in sight of the naval yard and signed up on leaving college, spending four years at sea aboard a destroyer. He graduated from Georgetown University with a master's degree in national security studies and went to Harvard Business School hoping to land a Wall Street job.

He matriculated in 1983, became a US Navy officer, then joined Goldman Sachs as an investment banker.

His Wall Street stint was followed by a Hollywood career, during which Bannon worked as the executive producer of Sean Penn's 1991 drama 'The Indian Runner'.

''I come from a blue-collar, Irish Catholic, pro-Kennedy, pro-union family of Democrats'', Mr Bannon told Bloomberg.

''I wasn’t political until I got into the service and saw how badly Jimmy Carter f----- things up.

''I became a huge Reagan admirer. Still am."

''But what turned me against the whole establishment was coming back from running companies in Asia in 2008 and seeing that Bush had f----- up as badly as Carter. The whole country was a disaster.''

However Mr. Bannon brings to the post a background that includes misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and allegations that he threatened his wife with retribution if she testified in the criminal case, according to a police report and court records obtained by The New York Times.

The charges date back two decades to the end of a troubled marriage to Mary Louise Piccard, who said he had attacked her at their home in Santa Monica, Calif.

He was charged in February 1996 with domestic violence, battery and trying to dissuade a victim from reporting a crime, but the case was dropped when Ms. Piccard did not show up to court. In court records, Ms. Piccard later claimed that Mr. Bannon had instructed her to leave town to avoid testifying.

According to Daily Mail, Bannon said after getting the White House job Sunday: ''We had a very successful partnership on the campaign, one that led to victory. We will have that same partnership in working to help President-elect Trump achieve his agenda.''

Trump will take office with his staff in January.