Donald Trump's new chief strategist is a "very smart guy," and it's "baloney" to blame the former Breitbart News CEO for everything controversial that was posted on the right-wing website, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday.
"That would be like accusing the publisher of The New York Times of being responsible for the dumbest thing his newspaper ever did, which would be a lot of things, by the way," Gingrich told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program, while insisting Steve Bannon will help Trump's presidency be successful.
"People need to understand, for Trump to succeed, all he's done by winning this election is he got a ticket to the dance," said Gingrich. "Now he's got four to eight years [for] dancing. Guys like Bannon can help him think ahead, can design. There will be a series of very big, key fights."
Trump on Sunday announced his decision to make Bannon his chief strategist and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus his chief of staff, with the intention being the two men work together as his top aides.
Bannon, along with Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, joined the campaign in August after the Republican National Convention, and is said to have been behind Trump's tougher stance on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Trump's decision to name Bannon chief strategist, though, has raised eyebrows and complaints from people based on his tenure at Breitbart. Over the weekend, the Anti-Defamation League, issued a statement against Bannon's appointment, saying his alt-right movement is "hostile to core American values," reports ABC News.
"It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the 'alt-right' — a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists — is slated to be a senior staff member in the 'people's house,'" ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in his statement.
Gingrich on Monday noted that many complaints about Bannon are coming from the "mainstream media," saying that if the media opposes something "it's probably a real good idea."
"They are the mortal opponents of what Trump is trying to achieve," Gingrich continued. "Steve Bannon is a very smart guy. He was a naval officer, managing partner at Goldman Sachs. He made a series of movies, has great connections in Hollywood and he ran Breitbart."
Meanwhile, he said Priebus, whose appointment has not met with similar outcry, "has a great personality" and is the "great natural leader of a political system ... probably the most important RNC chairman in modern times."
Bannon will be needed for the fights ahead, said Gingrich.
"If Trump is going to try to reform the civil service so he can actually manage the federal government, that's the kind of a fight where a guy like Bannon can shape it and keep the machine focused, while Reince Priebus keeps it running," said Gingrich.
The former House speaker has been reportedly under consideration for a post in Trump's administration, and said Monday he wants to be the "chief planner."
"It's January 2025, we're turning over a very successful government to the next Republican president," said Gingrich. "What have we done right? Why are the American people sticking with us? Why is America a great country again? I think you have to have an ability which I did a little bit with [Ronald] Reagan and a whole lot as speaker of the House."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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