Steve Bannon, chief strategist and senior counselor to President-elect Donald Trump, allegedly told a friend that he didn’t see an issue with fewer black people being able to vote.
Julia Jones, a screenwriter who had a working relationship with Bannon, told The New York Times on Sunday that the chief executive of Breitbart News would discuss the genetic superiority of certain people and expressed that perhaps it wouldn’t be bad to disenfranchise people who didn’t own property.
“I said, ‘That would exclude a lot of African-Americans,’” Ms. Jones recalled. “He said, ‘Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.’ I said, ‘But what about Wendy?’” referring to Mr. Bannon’s executive assistant. “He said, ‘She’s different. She’s family.’”
Allowing only property owners to vote wouldn’t just disenfranchise black people. It would also limit the rights of Latinos, poor people, students and two-thirds of the U.S. population.
The idea that only a certain class of people should vote is one held by Trump himself. He has advocated for a literal interpretation of the Constitution, which would limit the right to vote to wealthy white men like himself and Bannon. He also has said on multiple occasions that his success is a direct result of his “good genes” and “breeding.” Genetics granting the intellect that ensures financial success is an idea deeply ingrained in white nationalism.
Before being appointed to a senior position in Trump’s White House, Bannon served as the chief executive of Trump’s campaign, and his nomination did little to help Trump raise his dismal approval numbers among black voters since Breitbart.com is a refuge for white supremacists.
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