Steve Bannon backs out of Harvard event
Steve Bannon was all set to attend a conference this week at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. Until he wasn’t.
A Harvard Kennedy School spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon Bannon, a senior advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, was no longer attending the two-day conference.
Staff at the Institute of Politics did not immediately provide information Tuesday on why Bannon had pulled out from the event. Trump’s transition team didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News and Trump campaign CEO, was among scores of journalists and campaign staffers listed as “confirmed participants” at “Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2016,” but was not scheduled to speak at the event Wednesday.
Nevertheless, upon news of Bannon’s attendance, protests had been swiftly organized for Wednesday and Thursday in Cambridge. More than 1,000 people had said they planned to protest, according to one Facebook event page, which criticized Harvard for “normalizing what Bannon stands for.”
“NO LEGITIMACY FOR WHITE SUPREMACY,” protest organizers wrote.
As The Boston Globe reported Tuesday, Harvard officials defended the decision to invite Bannon, who himself is a Harvard Business School alumnus.
“We invite people who have significantly influenced events in the world even if their actions or words are abhorrent to some members of our community or are in conflict with the values of the Kennedy School itself,” read prepared remarks Kennedy School Dean Doug Elmendorf was to give Wednesday at the event.
Bannon’s planned attendance also drew condemnation from outside of Harvard’s campus. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 400 MIT faculty members had signed a letter criticizing Trump’s appointments. While it did not mention Bannon by name, organizers pegged the letter’s release to his planned visit at their Cambridge neighbor:
The President-elect has appointed individuals to positions of power who have endorsed racism, misogyny and religious bigotry, and denied the widespread scientific consensus on climate change. Regardless of our political views, these endorsements violate principles at the core of MIT’s mission. At this time, it is important to reaffirm the values we hold in common.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center
, Bannon “was the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill.” The New York Times has chronicled a number of Bannon’s own statements and Breitbart articles during his tenure most frequently cited as inflammatory, including sexist and anti-Semitic.
Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor, who has been critical of his former employer, recently said he does not think Bannon is an anti-Semite, but has appeased such views as Breitbart’s chairman for personal gain.
“I think Steve’s a very, very power-hungry dude who’s willing to use anybody and anything in order to get ahead, and that includes making common cause with the racist, anti-Semitic alt-right,” Shapiro told Slate’s The Gist podcast. “I want to be careful about attributing personal anti-Semitism to him. I will say that it is appeasement of anti-Semitism, which in my book is certainly not a good thing.”
Despite Bannon’s absence, Harvard’s campus won’t be completely without former Trump campaign advisors. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, is set to appear with Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager, at a forum Thursday evening.
The forum, which will be moderated by CNN reporter Jake Tapper, will be broadcast Sunday on CNN.
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