Trump Defends Steve Bannon Amid Calls For His Ouster: ‘He’s Not a Racist’

Following brief comments about infrastructure at Trump Tower today, President Donald Trump held a combative and absolutely insane press conference with reporters, largely over his initial muted response to the violence in Charlottesville.

Besides defending his first statement where he blamed “many sides” for the violent clashes, the president also came to the defense of his chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had already been in the crosshairs over his feud with National Security Advisor HR McMaster and more so now due to his nationalist beliefs and association with Breitbart News.

And the president wanted everyone to know that Bannon wasn’t a racist.

After noting that he didn’t need Bannon’s help to win the election because he had already won the GOP primary without him, he then came to the White House aide’s defense on accusations of racism and white nationalism.

“I like him, he is a good man,” Trump exclaimed. “He is not a racist. I can tell you that. He is a good person.”

He continued, “He actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon. He is a good person and I think the press treats him frankly very unfairly.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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