ATLANTIC: Priebus vs. ‘Nationalist Right’; Bannon Calls Breitbart Story ‘Absurd’

Rosie Gray writes in the Atlantic:

Breitbart News has a target in its crosshairs following the departure of former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn from the White House in a cascade of scandal over his contacts with the Russian government: White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Targeting Priebus, who leads the faction of Trump aides that is composed of experienced establishment political hands, is really just a stand-in for a larger conflict about the future of Trumpism in the White House.

…

[A] White House official speaking on condition of anonymity also said the Breitbart story [a report by Matthew Boyle suggesting Priebus’s future is “in doubt”] was “completely false” and that “whoever placed it has no knowledge of the inner workings of the administration.”

“I can also tell you that Bannon and [Stephen] Miller are very unhappy with the story and consider it an attack on a close friend,” the official said.

And Bannon himself called “absurd” in an email.

Bannon and Priebus have made a show of closeness recently, even giving a joint interview to New York magazine last week in which they professed to fall asleep on the phone with each other and joked about giving each other back rubs.

Read the rest here.