WASHINGTON: Donald Trump parted ways with his controversial chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday as the White House reeled from the fallout over the president’s much-criticized response to a violent white supremacist rally. In comments to the Weekly Standard, he made clear his commitment to the nationalist-populist “movement” that carried Trump to power. But the next day he reverted angrily to his initial stance — effectively setting a moral equivalence between the white supremacists at the Virginia rally and anti-racism counter demonstrators there. “Steve Bannon’s firing is welcome news, but it doesn’t disguise where President Trump himself stands on white supremacists and the bigoted beliefs they advance,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. And Trump was reportedly furious about an interview in which his aide contradicted his own position on North Korea.

Source: Manila Times August 19, 2017 03:45 UTC