Steve Bannon says don't blame President Trump for New Zealand massacre
Don't blame President Trump.
That's what former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon says after at least one gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens more at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand Friday.
The suspect is a white nationalist, and in an interview on “WSJ at Large,” host Gerry Baker pointed out to Bannon that some feel the president's rhetoric is helping fuel anti-immigrant anger.
"It’s another one of these crazy guys," he argued. "You can’t put this on Trump."
Bannon rejects the claim that white supremacists are being emboldened by people such as himself and the president.
“It’s absolutely totally nonsense,” he said. “Donald Trump has condemned this from day one. He has condemned the neo-Nazis, condemned the neo-Confederates. This is all the mainstream media trying to sit there and put this ethno-nationalism on Trump.”
Bannon has a strong opinion about the president's inclusiveness, and says his record shows it.
“Trump is not a racist,” he contends. “His policies, look at this: you had the lowest black unemployment in history, the lowest Hispanic in 40 or 50 years. Wages are rising. Everything he’s trying to do is for all Americans.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
Bannon suggests the talk that the president might be influencing violent actions is all part of the effort by anti-Trump forces to hurt him.
"Somebody goes into a religious place and shoots up people. It’s clearly crazy, and they’re trying to do this to Trump day-in and day-out.”