Republican mega-donor and billionaire Rebekah Mercer urged Stephen Bannon not to leave President Donald Trump's administration, despite the chief strategist's growing frustration with the turf wars in the White House, Politico reported.
Bannon has clashed with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, who continues to rise in prominence and influence within the administration, Politico reported.
Bannon sees Kushner as interfering with his populist platform; Kushner sees Bannon as an "ideologue" who's interfering with Trump's ability to gain popular support for his agenda, Politico reported.
So in stepped Mercer, daughter of hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer and who goes way back with Bannon, to convince the strategist of the "long-term play," Politico reported.
"Rebekah Mercer prevailed upon him to stay," one person told Politico.
Says Bannon — "Total nonsense," Politico reported.
The report comes amid Wednesday's removal of Bannon from the National Security Council, a move that is either a demotion or a natural evolution, depending on who's doing the reporting or spinning, with multiple reports saying it was the former.
MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough on Thursday called the removal of Bannon from the NSC a "death spiral" for the former Breitbart executive.
"This is one step closer to running a super PAC for the Mercers outside of the White House instead of dealing with all of this nonsense that he deals with every day on the inside of the White House," Scarborough said.