Alarm bells are ringing over Donald Trump appointing Steve Bannon, who previously served as his campaign CEO, as his chief strategist.
Bannon is the former head of Breitbart, the alt-right website beloved by white nationalists and social misfits of all stripes. His ex-wife claimed in sworn testimony in court during a child custody battle that he didn’t want their daughters to go to school with Jews.
He was also caught on tape calling progressive women “a bunch of dykes.”
Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos shot down the concept of Bannon as anti-Semitic and homophobic during an interview with Channel 4.
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“I am a gay Jew and he made me into a star,” Yiannopoulos said.
Yiannopoulos’ mother is Jewish and he is a practicing Catholic. He has also stated in the past that he wishes he wasn’t gay and that if he could he would change his sexual orientation.
He also told Channel 4 that Breitbart was mostly staffed by Jews, and pointed to the hiring of Raheem Kassam, a “brown skinned Muslim,” to run the London office.
Aaron Klein, Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief, has also come to Bannon’s defense, telling Buzzfeed that he is a “committed patriot who is deeply concerned about the growing threats to Israel.”
Hillary Clinton gave a speech in late August going after the alt-right and ran a campaign ad featuring Breitbart headlines attacking feminism, Muslims, and LGBTQ people from over the years. Most of them were Yiannopoulos’ own, which he defended.
Yiannopoulos claimed a “satire” defense. He also hypocritically bemoaned the rough nature of American politics.
“This stuff is ridiculous. What a lot of Brits don’t always understand is how ugly and terrifying American politics can be. The name-calling can be absolutely extraordinary,” said Yiannopoulos, who was banned from Twitter for his part in the online harassment of Leslie Jones.
He has also given talks attacking transgender people, filled with anti-trans slurs and misinformation.
Watch the interview in the video below.
