Pelosi on Bannon: Trump brought a ‘white nationalist’ into the White House

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is blasting President-elect Donald Trump’s hiring of Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist, saying it undermines attempts to unite the country.

Bannon once called his conservative news outlet “the platform of the alt-right,” a far-right ideology that promotes white supremacy. Under Bannon, Breitbart ran headlines such as “Bill Kristol, Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew” and “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”

In a Monday statement, Pelosi said that Trump’s decision to give Bannon, his campaign CEO, one of the most influential jobs in the White House signified the president-elect was elevating a person who had promoted white supremacy. The hire will only increase to fears of minorities who felt attacked by Trump and his supporters during the campaign, she warned.

{mosads}“After winning the presidency but losing the popular vote, President-elect Trump must try to bring Americans together — not continue to fan the flames of division and bigotry,” Pelosi said.

“Bringing Steve Bannon into the White House is an alarming signal that President-elect Trump remains committed to the hateful and divisive vision that defined his campaign,” she added.

Pelosi had issued a conciliatory statement last week after Trump’s surprise victory, suggesting that she’d be willing to find common ground with his administration on an infrastructure jobs bill.

But like her Senate counterpart, retiring Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Pelosi didn’t hold back in condemning Bannon’s hire.

“There must be no sugarcoating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the Trump Administration,” she said.

Civil rights groups have also expressed alarm over Bannon’s elevation in the upcoming Trump administration.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) clashed with Capitol Hill reporters earlier Monday as he argued Trump has the right to hire whomever he chooses.