“When we doubt the president, we lose.”
Shortly after President Donald Trump on Wednesday released a scathing rebuke of former top aide Steve Bannon after his fiery attack on the president and his family, some of the #MAGA movement’s most strident supporters appeared to dump the Breitbart News executive in a forum post titled “ War. ” on the controversial pro-Trump Reddit group “/r/the_donald.”
The top post, which received the most upvotes from users on the message board, read simply: “We follow Trump.”
Another user named Trumpologist appeared to show regret for not fully backing Trump-endorsed Alabama Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange: “We should have followed Trump when he said Strange would win in a general and Moore would lose.”
“When we doubt the president, we lose. Lesson hurts, but lets [sic] learn it now,” the user added.
Many users on the contentious message board offered their full-throated support for the president dropping Bannon. “To hell with Bannon, f**ked Alabama over. I’m done with him. He didn’t help Trump win, Trump won because of Trump. I didn’t even know who Bannon was until after the election,” wrote user TheTitansWrath.
Other users appeared to be more hesitant to pick a side in the “war” between Trump and Bannon, both who have been regularly subject of praise on the message board. Many users even appear to doubt the validity of the news, which came straight from the White House staff. One user questioned if the news had anything to do with Trump’s forthcoming “Fake News awards.”
“That Sucks. I always liked Bannon. Oh well, gonna get interesting,” wrote another user, while another offered words of encouragement to pro-Trumpers feeling reluctant to go along with the president’s sharp turn on the Breitbart News executive chairman.
“Embrace this guys,” wrote a user named dmrieger. “Winning means you cut ties with people holding you back. Bannon was holding things back. Trump has proven he can work with Paul Ryan and Mcconnell to get things done.”
“Bannon is a total loose cannon and we’re all better off for this. Trust Trump!” the user added.
The pro-Trump group’s dramatic shift in tone regarding Bannon comes just months after users praised the former White House aide in a post on his interview with CBS. “Bannon is f**king awesome,” wrote one user.
“I love Bannon. I was severely disappointed when he left the WH. It looks like he’s going to be even more useful on the outside though,” another user named GMyers35 said in 2017.
Some users on the board remain conflicted about the fresh feud between the two major leaders in the far-right movement. “I don’t quite get the move, honestly,” user HoundDogs wrote. “Very strange. Banner [sic] had left very gracefully and was strongly supporting Trump. Then this? I don’t get the angle.”
The “War.” Reddit thread discussing the budding feud was briefly pinned to the top of the pro-Trump message board but has since been removed by forum moderators, and many of the more anti-Trump comments have been removed.
