Bannon: Trump to keep actively tweeting, doesn’t need ‘pearl-clutching’ media

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon said President Trump doesn’t need the “pearl-clutching mainstream media” and will continue to actively tweet to talk “directly to the American people.”

“I don’t think [Trump] needs The Washington Post, and The New York Times and CBS News,” Bannon said during a wide-ranging “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night. “And I don’t believe that he thinks they’re looking out [for] what’s in his best interest, okay? He’s not going to believe that. I don’t believe that. And you don’t believe that, okay? This is just another standard in judgment that you rain upon him in the effort to destroy Donald Trump.” 

{mosads}Bannon, a former Navy officer and Goldman Sachs investment banker who has returned to his role at the helm of Breitbart News, continues to be a staunch defender of the president.

He said Trump will continue to tweet aggressively even under new White House chief of staff John Kelly, who replaced Reince Preibus on July 31.

“[Trump] knows he’s speaking directly to the people who put him in office when he uses Twitter. And it is sometimes not in the custom and tradition of what the opposition party deems is appropriate. You’re absolutely correct, it’s not. And he’s not going to stop,” Bannon said.

“[John Kelly] is not going to be able to control it, either, because it’s Donald Trump,” he continued. “It’s Donald Trump talking directly to the American people. And to say something else, you’re going to get some good there. And every now and again you’re going to get some less good, okay?

“But you’re just going to have to live with it,” Bannon concluded.

Trump currently has more than 38 million followers on Twitter and has tweeted more than 37,500 times since joining in 2009.