Washington Aug 17 (IANS) White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has attacked white nationalists as "clowns" as the fallout from violent protests in Charlottesville Virginia continues.
"Ethno-nationalism -- it s losers " Bannon reportedly said in an interview published by magazine American Prospect on Wednesday.
Bannon s comments follow a weekend of turmoil in the US after a white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville last week turned violent following clashes between far-right and counter-protestors CNN reported.
The rally attended by neo-Nazis and white supremacists was in protest over the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee the commander of the Confederate Army in the 19th-century American Civil War.
One woman was killed when a suspected far-right sympathiser drove a car into a crowd of counter-protestors. In the days following the incident President Donald Trump made a series of remarks -- some off the cuff -- that were strongly rebuked by both Democrats and Republicans.
In the interview Bannon was asked if there was a connection between the economic nationalism that he supports and the white nationalism seen in Charlottesville.
"Ethno-nationalism -- it s losers " he said. "It s a fringe element. I think the media plays it up too much and we gotta help crush it you know uh help crush it more."
"These guys are a collection of clowns " Bannon added.
Bannon the former editor of the far-right news website Breitbart is a controversial figure within the White House.
A source close to Bannon told CNN he did not believe he was being interviewed when he spoke with the co-founder and co-editor of the American Prospect.
Bannon and the White House did not comment on the interview.
--IANS
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