On Thursday, Steve Bannon — the Breitbart CEO turned White House adviser — confirmed that President Donald Trump selected his Cabinet of billionaires for the specific purpose of "[deconstructing] the administrative state."
Bannon argued that "if you look at these Cabinet nominees, they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction," according to The Washington Post. The chief strategist cited as one example the president's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he described as "one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history.”
Trump's critics had worried that his picks — including climate change denier Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency — would mean that the government would ease up on regulations.
Bannon, who appeared jointly with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at the Conservative Political Action Conference, also denounced the media as "the opposition party," telling his audience that "if you think they are giving you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken.” Describing the press as the "corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has," he added, "If you look at the opposition party and how they portrayed the campaign and how they portrayed the transition and how they portray the administration, it’s always wrong."
Priebus joined in, telling the audience that "everything that you’re reading" about the Trump administration has been erroneous.
Bannon and Priebus also took advantage of the opportunity to dispute rumors that they're engaged in a power struggle, with Priebus praising Bannon as "very dogged" and "incredibly loyal" and Bannon responding that Priebus "is indefatigable."
Added Bannon: Reince is indefatigable in saying, ‘We’ve got to drive this forward.’"
And there was also this moment:
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