Political Editor Matthew Cooper writes at Newsweek that President Donald Trump’s “America First” inaugural speech on Friday has all the markings of Whitehouse chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon:
If you judge President Donald Trump by his inaugural address, you can say that Steve Bannon, his nationalist adviser, is winning the battle for his soul.
Trump’s 16-minute address was ferocious in its denunciations of Washington: “Politicians prospered while the jobs left and the factories closed.” He denounced politicians who are “all talk and no action.” Trump added: “For too long a small group in our nation’s capital have reaped the rewards of government.” And he promised: “The forgotten men and women of this country are forgotten no more.” He gestured with a clenched fist as the speech ended.
The new president portrayed a nation that is “ravaged,” one where “rusted out factories are scattered like tombstones.” He took aim at “crime and gangs and drugs,” promising to end this scourge. The economic recovery of the past eight years went unacknowledged. He mentioned “welfare” as if it was an entitlement, something it hasn’t been since the 1990s.
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