美国国家公共电台 NPR Steve Bannon, Out As Chief White House Strategist, Heads Back To Breitbart

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Today is Steve Bannon's last day as President Trump¹'s chief strategist. Bannon was the populist architect of Trump's election victory last year. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders described his departure as a mutual² agreement between Bannon and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. But as NPR's Scott Horsley reports, Bannon has plenty of enemies inside and outside of the White House.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: It was exactly a year and a day ago that Steve Bannon took over as CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. He's widely credited with salvaging⁴ what had been a foundering⁵ operation, but that was part of his problem. Trump bristles⁶ at the idea anyone else deserves credit for his unlikely win.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Mr. Bannon came on very late. You know that. I went through 17 senators, governors. And I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on very much later than that.

HORSLEY: Long before his official role in the campaign, though, Bannon had been a cheerleader for Trump as executive chairman of Breitbart News, a conservative website he turned into a platform for the self-described alt-right. Bannon and Breitbart were a good match for Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric⁷. And this week, Bannon was one of the few White House staffers to embrace the president's controversial comments on Charlottesville. Nevertheless, Trump voiced only lukewarm support for his chief strategist when he spoke⁸ to reporters on Tuesday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: He is not a racist⁹. I can tell you that. He's a good person. He actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. But we'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon.

HORSLEY: Bannon may have done time at Goldman Sachs and Harvard Business School, but his politics, like his wardrobe, are decidedly anti-establishment. Back in February, he told conservative activists¹⁰ he's happy to blow up government bureaucracies and the traditional news media.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEVE BANNON: If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day - every day, it is going to be a fight.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

HORSLEY: But that take-no-prisoners style which was so successful on the campaign trail proved a liability in the White House. The original shock-and-awe travel ban was thrown out by the federal courts. Bannon's high-pressure sales tactics for Obamacare repeal¹¹ backfired with lawmakers. And Bannon openly feuded¹² with administration colleagues, including economic adviser¹³ Gary Cohn and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. When ABC's Chuck Todd asked Trump's national security adviser if he could even work with Bannon, H.R. McMaster sidestepped the question.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

H R MCMASTER: I am ready to work with anybody who will help advance the president's agenda and advance the security prosperity of the American people.

CHUCK TODD: Do you believe Steve Bannon does that?

MCMASTER: I believe that everyone who works in the White House should be motivated by that goal.

HORSLEY: Earlier this week, Bannon raised eyebrows¹⁴ when he telephoned liberal magazine editor Robert Kuttner of The American Prospect¹⁵ and dismissed the white nationalists in Charlottesville as losers, a fringe element and a collection of clowns. By some accounts, Bannon had already tendered his resignation when he gave that interview. The headline in Kuttner's magazine was unrepentant.

ROBERT KUTTNER: Steve Bannon sounded like a man who feels - damn the torpedoes¹⁶ and full speed ahead. And I think he's going to do what he's going to do. His enemies are going to do what they're going to do. And that's who he is.

HORSLEY: Hours after leaving his White House job, Bannon returned to Breitbart, where he chaired the evening's editorial meeting. That suggests the administration's chief bomb thrower is not surrendering, just taking his weapons outside the White House and possibly taking aim at his former rivals on the inside. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 salvaging   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求）
• It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

5 foundering   

v.创始人( founder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lifeboat soon got abreast of the foundering ship. 救生艇很快就赶到了那艘正在下沉的船旁。 来自互联网
• With global climate-change negotiations foundering, the prospects of raising cash for REDD that way look poor. 由于就全球气候变化的谈判破裂，通过这种方式来为REDD集资前景堪忧。 来自互联网

6 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

12 feuded   

vi.长期不和（feud的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He feuded with his ex-wife. 他和前妻积怨已久。 来自辞典例句
• The two tribes feuded with each other for generations. 这两个部族世代为敌。 来自辞典例句

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 torpedoes   

鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮

参考例句：

• We top off, take on provisions and torpedoes, and go. 我们维修完，装上给养和鱼雷就出发。
• The torpedoes hit amidship, and there followed a series of crashing explosions. 鱼雷击中了船腹，引起了一阵隆隆的爆炸声。