Former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro unleashes on Stephen Bannon: 'Legitimately sinister figure'
Former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro unloaded on the right-wing website's chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, on Wednesday after news broke that Donald Trump had appointed him as campaign CEO.
"Bannon is a legitimately sinister figure," Shapiro, who left Breitbart earlier this year in a fiery exit, wrote on his website.
The conservative pundit added: "He is a vindictive, nasty figure, infamous for verbally abusing supposed friends and threatening enemies. Bannon is a smarter version of Trump: he's an aggressive self-promoter who name-drops to heighten his profile and woo bigger names, and then uses those bigger names as stepping stools to his next destination."
Trump "may be [Bannon's] final destination" or "it may not," wrote Shapiro.
Click through images of Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort through the years:
"He will attempt to ruin anyone who impedes his unending ambition, and he will use anyone bigger than he is – for example, Donald Trump – to get where he wants to go. Bannon knows that in the game of thrones, you win or die. And he certainly doesn't intend to die. He'll kill everyone else before he goes," Shapiro wrote.
As chairman of Breitbart, Bannon has overseen the website's political coverage, which has been very pro-Trump. At times, Breitbart has pedaled conspiracy theories against Trump's political opponents.
RCP Net Favorability for Donald Trump Over Time InsideGov
Shapiro was a friend of the late Andrew Breitbart. He left Breitbart earlier this year over disagreement about how the outlet addressed an incident with one of its former reporters, Michelle Fields, who was grabbed and pulled by ex-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at an event. The website failed to stand by her and Shapiro vocally condemned it for not doing so.
Trump announced Bannon would join the campaign in a early Wednesday morning press release. The New York businessman called him "extremely capable" and "highly qualified."
