1. A blank slate
In his first press conference since the election, Barack Obama said he thought Donald Trump would come into office with “fewer set, hard-and-fast policy prescriptions” than most.
Updated
'That can serve him'
I don’t think he is ideological. I think ultimately he is pragmatic in that way, and that can serve him well.
– Barack Obama
2. Democracy is not a speedboat
Obama warned, however, that Trump was about to undergo a rude awakening. “Of course I have concerns,” Obama said. But he suggested that immediately crashing the country would be hard: “The federal government and our democracy is not a speedboat, it is an ocean liner.”
Reality bites
This office has a way of waking you up. Those aspects of his positions or predispositions that don’t match up with reality he will find shaken up pretty quick, because reality has a way of asserting itself. Some of his gifts that allowed him to execute one of the biggest upsets in history, hopefully he’ll be able to put those to use
– Barack Obama
3. Bannon sets off alarms
The appointment of Steve Bannon, under whom the Breitbart website became a clearinghouse for hate speech, as chief White House strategist set off an outcry that Trump had installed a hate-monger in a prime seat of power.
'At the highest levels'
President-elect Trump’s choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump’s White House.
– Senator Harry Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson
'A sad day'
It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the alt-right – a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed antisemites and racists – is slated to be a senior staff member in the ‘people’s house’.
– Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-defamation League
The Gingrich defense
Bannon couldn' possibly be anti-Semitic because he worked at Goldman Sachs and in Hollywood, says Gingrich. https://t.co/eVFgIdYbKn
— Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger) November 14, 2016
Republican strategist John Weaver:
The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America.
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) November 13, 2016
'Happy to pander'
I have no evidence that Bannon’s a racist or that he’s an antisemite ... I have no evidence Bannon believes that personally. But he’s happy to pander to those people and make common cause with them in order to transform conservatism into European far-right nationalist populism.
– former Breitbart writer Ben Shapiro
Nazi provisionally encouraged
I must admit that I was a wee bit surprised that Mr Trump finally chose Mr Bannon, I thought that his stable of Washington insiders would have objected too vociferously. Perhaps The Donald IS for REAL
– Rocky J Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi party
4. 'Stop it'
Trump on 60 Minutes told supporters to stop attacking minorities. “I am very surprised to hear that. I hate to hear it ... I am so sorry to hear it, and I say stop it,” he said. “And I say right to the camera, stop it.”
5. Trump speaks with Putin
The Trump transition team said in a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump “noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia”.
... And another thing:
Sign at 125th and Broadway in Harlem. pic.twitter.com/sCPiks88Z7
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) November 14, 2016
... And another thing:
Watching 30k protestors from trump tower with Nigel ! Secret service not impressed and said get inside pic.twitter.com/1YmjpeldyW
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) November 14, 2016
