Priebus defends Trump pick: ‘That’s not the Steve Bannon I know’

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus on Monday defended President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Steve Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor. 

{mosads}Pundits and politicians have slammed the decision to hire Bannon, the former head of Brietbart News, labeling him as anti-Semitic, racist and misogynistic. 

“The guy I know is a guy that isn’t any of those things,” Priebus said on NBC’s “Today” show Monday. 

He added that Bannon is “very, very smart, very temperate, and together we’ve been able to manage a lot of the decision making in regard to the campaign, along with Kellyanne [Conway] and it’s worked very well.”

Priebus carried the same line of defense to Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” where he described Bannon, who also served as Trump’s campaign CEO, as a “wise and smart” person.

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Priebus dismissed critics who have called Bannon a white supremacist.

“First of all, I don’t know where they’re coming from. That’s not the Steve Bannon I know. I’ve sat with him for months. I have never, one time, experienced that,” Priebus said. 

“You have to look at the person. I think you have to get to know the person. … I find him not to be the way he’s being accused. I find him to be the opposite, and I think people need to give people time and give people an opportunity and not make judgments. Don’t make judgments based on what other people say.” 

While pundits and politicians have generally hailed the choice of Priebus as Trump’s chief of staff, Trump is facing fire for picking Bannon to be one of his most senior advisers. 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) delivered a heavy rebuke against Bannon Sunday night, saying it signals that white supremacists will be represented at the “highest levels” in the White House. 

“It is easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion when Trump appoints one of the foremost peddlers of White Supremacist themes and rhetoric as his top aide,” Reid said in a statement. 

GOP pundit Ana Navarro wrote on Twitter: “Oh, hell! White supremacist, anti gay, anti Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named Senior Strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America.”

Similarly, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called Bannon “anti-Semitic” and “misogynistic.” 

“Selection of Steve Bannon for senior WH role unsurprising but alarming. His alt-right, anti-Semitic & misogynistic views don’t belong in WH.”