Trump Draws Rebuke for Alt-Right WH Pick

Several major watchdog organizations including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have denounced Donald Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon as senior adviser and chief strategist in the White House, a move that also prompted harsh criticism and widespread alarm among political strategists. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News and a figure closely associated with the white-nationalist “alt-right” movement, is described as a dangerous influence in a statement released Sunday by the ADL. “It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the ‘alt-right’—a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists—is slated to be a senior staff member in the ‘people’s house,” the group’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote. Greenblatt went on to urge Trump to “appoint and nominate Americans committed to the well-being of all our country’s people and who exemplify the values of pluralism and tolerance that make our country great.” The watchdog’s warning comes just weeks after the organization released a report detailing a spike in anti-Semitism and harassment of journalists by “alt-right” Trump supporters. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-watch group, reacted to Bannon’s appointment by tweeting out several stories posted at Breitbart under Bannon’s watch, including one that encouraged readers “Hoist it high and proud: the Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.” Additionally, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a condemnation: “The appointment of Stephen Bannon as a top Trump administration strategist sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and white-nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House,” said Nihad Awad, the group’s executive director. “We urge President-elect Trump to reconsider this ill-advised appointment if he truly seeks to unite Americans.” If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can [view it in a browser]. [The Daily Beast] [CHEAT SHEET] AM EDITION 14 Nov 1. VOICES OF SANITY [Trump Draws Rebuke for Alt-Right WH Pick] Several major watchdog organizations including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have denounced Donald Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon as senior adviser and chief strategist in the White House, a move that also prompted harsh criticism and widespread alarm among political strategists. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News and a figure closely associated with the white-nationalist “alt-right” movement, is described as a dangerous influence in a statement released Sunday by the ADL. “It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the ‘alt-right’—a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists—is slated to be a senior staff member in the ‘people’s house,” the group’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote. Greenblatt went on to urge Trump to “appoint and nominate Americans committed to the well-being of all our country’s people and who exemplify the values of pluralism and tolerance that make our country great.” The watchdog’s warning comes just weeks after the organization released a report detailing a spike in anti-Semitism and harassment of journalists by “alt-right” Trump supporters. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-watch group, reacted to Bannon’s appointment by tweeting out several stories posted at Breitbart under Bannon’s watch, including one that encouraged readers “Hoist it high and proud: the Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.” Additionally, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a condemnation: “The appointment of Stephen Bannon as a top Trump administration strategist sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and white-nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House,” said Nihad Awad, the group’s executive director. “We urge President-elect Trump to reconsider this ill-advised appointment if he truly seeks to unite Americans.” [READ IT AT The Washington Post] Read More [Priebus Named Trump Chief of Staff] BY The Daily Beast [Bannon’s Dream: A Worldwide Ultra-Right] BY Christopher Dickey and Asawin Suebsaeng 2. NO TARIFFS [China Warns Trump: No ‘Trade Wars’] Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need for cooperation between China and the U.S. in a phone call with President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday night. The conversation came after Trump spent much of the presidential campaign talking big about how he’d hit China with a 45 percent tariff on imported goods and take on Beijing for currency manipulations. Xi, apparently unfazed, told Trump that cooperation between the two countries was the only choice, according to Chinese state television. “The two sides must strengthen coordination, promote the two countries’ economic development and global economic growth, expand all areas of exchange and cooperation, ensure the two countries’ people obtain more tangible benefits, and push for better development going forward in China-U.S. relations,” Xi was cited as saying by Reuters. Trump reportedly responded by telling Xi he was open to cooperation and that the two sides can “definitely achieve greater development.” The state-run Global Times newspaper additionally warned Trump that should he begin such trade wars with China, “A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus. U.S. auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and U.S. soybean and maize imports will be halted. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S.” [READ IT AT The Guardian] Read More [Here’s How China Will Test Trump] BY Gordon G. Chang [China Pans Trump Climate Pact Exit Plan] BY The Daily Beast 3. WIKILEAKS [Assange Faces Swedish Prosecutor] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange finally faced a Swedish prosecutor Monday, more than six years after he was accused of rape in the Scandinavian country. The prosecutor came to Assange’s residence at the Ecuadorian embassy in London—where he has sought asylum since 2012 to avoid being extradited for the rape allegations—and interviewed the WikiLeaks chief via an Ecuadorian prosecutor who put forth questions submitted by Swedish prosecutors and police. Swedish officials have come under pressure to file formal rape charges against the Australian national or drop the case altogether, following a formal interview. Assange has resisted any extradition to Sweden for fear that it could lead to his eventual extradition to the U.S. to face charges for WikiLeaks’ release of classified diplomatic cables. [READ IT AT The Guardian] Read More [Ecuador: We Cut Off Assange’s Internet] BY The Daily Beast [Assange Denies Trying to Sway Election] BY The Daily Beast 4. SYCOPHANT [Priebus Defends ‘Generous’ Bannon] Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman named as Donald Trump’s inaugural White House chief of staff, defended his colleague Steve Bannon on Monday, telling MSNBC the incoming White House chief strategist is a “good” man despite his deep associations with alt-right, white-nationalist proponents. “I think everyone out there can agree that you judge people as you see them and not as other people have said,” Priebus told MSNBC’s Morning Joe, after being asked by Walter Isaacson what signal it sends to have Trump appoint a man who ran one of America’s most notorious race-baiting news sites as his top strategist. “It’s what people do, it’s how people act on a day-to-day basis,” he continued, seemingly overlooking Bannon having overseen Breitbart.com while it published articles targeting women, Muslims, immigrants, and other minorities; and actively ginned up conspiracy theories about President Obama, Paul Ryan, and Hillary Clinton. “I’ve only seen a generous, hospitable, wise person to work with,” Priebus concluded, with no further pushback from the MSNBC morning panel. [READ IT AT] Read More [Trump Draws Rebuke for Alt-Right WH Pick] BY The Daily Beast [The Establishment Vs. Alt-Right Icon] BY Betsy Woodruff and Asawin Suebsaeng 5. LAW OF THE LAND [Trump ‘Fine’ With Marriage Equality] In an apparent attempt to assuage the fears of LGBT Americans, President-elect Donald Trump told Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes that he has no plans to roll back same-sex marriage rights. Asked by Stahl if he personally supports marriage equality, Trump replied, “It’s irrelevant because it was already settled. It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.” He went to clarify that even if he were to appoint a judge who opposes marriage equality, the issue has been “settled” and he’s “fine with that.” As for the “fears” that other groups, such as blacks and Muslim Americans, have expressed since his election, Trump told Stahl, “I think it’s horrible if that’s happening.” But in the next breath, he dismissed stories of intimidation as little more than a media invention. “I think it’s built up by the press because, frankly, they’ll take every single little incident that they can find in this country, which could’ve been there before,” he said. “If I weren’t even around doing this, and they’ll make into an event because that’s the way the press is.” Read More [Will Trump Put LGBTQ Equality in Peril?] BY Tim Teeman [Trump’s Beyond-Radical SCOTUS] BY Jay Michaelson 6. THEY’RE HERE [‘Arrival’ Stuns in U.S. Box-Office Debut] Superhero adventure film Doctor Strange dominated the U.S. box office for the second consecutive weekend, scoring $43 million in domestic ticket sales. The Benedict Cumberbatch vehicle now has a hefty domestic total of $153 million. The DreamWorks kids film Trolls came in second, nabbing $35 million and boosting its U.S. two-week total to $94 million. And while sci-fi thriller Arrival—starring Amy Adams—came in third, it stunned observers by outpacing its expected intake of $16 million by raking in $24 million, thanks in part to extraordinarily good reviews (at one point, the film’s trailers boasted, the Denis Villeneuve-directed movie had a 100 percent “fresh” rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes). Universal’s Almost Christmas debuted in fourth with $15.6 million, and Lionsgate’s World War II film Hacksaw Ridge earned $10.8 million to bring its U.S. total to $32.3 million. [READ IT AT Forbes] Read More [‘Doctor Strange’ Director: I Whitewashed] BY Jen Yamato [‘Doctor Strange’ Is a Total Trip] BY Jen Yamato 7. SO MUCH FOR THAT [Trump Thought He’d Be Out by Oct. ’15] Donald Trump did not expect his presidential campaign to last beyond the fall of 2015, CNN reported Monday. “Trump told Christie in 2015 that he didn’t expect to make it past October—at which point he would endorse Christie, according to a Christie adviser who asked not to be named in order to speak about behind-the-scenes maneuvers,” according to excerpts from Unprecedented, the new book written by members of CNN’s political-reporting team. Following his departure from the GOP primary race, Christie became one of Trump’s most prominent backers, acting as an outspoken attack dog during the real-estate mogul’s feud with top rival Marco Rubio. Despite Christie’s longtime loyalty to Trump, he was replaced last week as the president-elect’s transition chief by incoming Vice President Mike Pence. [READ IT AT CNN] Read More [Obama’s Imperial Presidency Now Trump’s] BY Tim Mak [How Trump Perverts ‘Energy Independence’] BY Peter A. Shulman 8. NOT AGAIN [New Zealand Rocked by Aftershock Quakes] New Zealand’s South Island has been rocked by hundreds of aftershock tremors, including a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, within 24 hours of a massive 7.5-magnitude quake hitting the island nation, killing two people. The epicenter of the tremors is northeast of Christchurch near the town of Kaikoura, which has reportedly been cut off by landslides caused by the powerful quakes. New Zealand’s government-funded earthquake-monitoring program, GeoNet, has said that aftershocks from the initial quake—which was actually two related tremors—could continue for at least a few months. [READ IT AT BBC News] 9. SIGN OF THE TIMES [Cop Suspended for Confederate Flag Stunt] A police officer in Traverse City, Michigan, has been suspended with pay after driving in a pickup truck bearing the Confederate flag around a group of people protesting against Donald Trump. The officer, identified as Michael Peters, was reported to be captured in the compromising position in a photo taken by a protester. Police Chief Jeff O’Brien announced Peters’ suspension Sunday, having earlier said an internal investigation would begin into the incident Monday. “He is not working as a police officer,” O’Brien told local media. “I do not condone his actions.” The Confederate flag was reportedly flown from the back of the pickup truck while it hovered near a recent “Love Trumps Hate” rally in the city. The truck was then parked near protesters while the driver drank a beer, a move that O’Brien described as intimidating. “We will get through this,” O'Brien said. “The community will get through this.” [READ IT AT The Associated Press] Read More [One Shot at Anti-Trump Protest in OR] BY The Daily Beast [Fox: Soros-Funded Protests Anti-Semitic] BY Matt Wilstein 10. WE'LL SEE [Trump: ‘I’ll Take $1 as President’] President-elect Donald Trump says he will only accept a $1 salary as president. In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Trump said he had no idea what kind of money presidents make but that he wasn’t interested anyway. “I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year. But it’s a—I don’t even know what it is. Do you know what the salary is?” he asked host Lesley Stahl. Upon being informed that the salary is $400,000, Trump responded, “No, I’m not going to take the salary. I’m not taking it.” When asked about his taxes—a controversial issue during the presidential race—Trump dismissed the topic by simply saying, “Nobody cares.” “The only one who cares is, you know, you and a few people that asked that question. Obviously, the public didn’t care because I won the election very easily. So they don’t care. I never thought they did care,” he said. [READ IT AT The Hill] Read More [The Establishment Vs. Alt-Right Icon] BY Betsy Woodruff and Asawin Suebsaeng [The Hate After Trump’s Election] BY Kelly Weill [Facebook] [Twitter] [Google+] [Forward to a Friend] [THE DAILY BEAST] | [ABOUT US] | [CONTACT US] © Copyright 2016 The Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street, New York NY 10011 If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, [click here] to view this email in your Web browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add thedailybeast@e2.thedailybeast.com to your address book. 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