Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon, just tapped to be Donald Trump's top adviser, is an "intense" and "extremely bright" dynamo who'll faithfully push his boss's conservative agenda — but in no way is a racist as some charge, retired Navy SEAL and FBI agent Jonathan T. Gilliam tells Newsmax TV.

"I actually know Bannon, I've met him several times, I've interviewed him … and look, he's a great guy," Gilliam said Tuesday to Bill Tucker on "America Talks Live."

"He's an intense individual. There's no doubt about that. You ask anybody a word to describe Steve Bannon it's going to be 'intense.' But the thing is … he represents a great vast majority of the people that elected Trump to office.

"He's not a racist … He ran Breitbart, which has a lot of click bait on it, but he is extremely bright and well thought out and is an extreme conservative."

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Some anti-Trump forces have called Bannon — who took a leave from Breitbart to become chief executive of Trump campaign — a white nationalist whose agenda smacks of racism and anti-Semitism. But Gilliam rejects the criticism.

"I don't like these terms — 'alt-right,' 'alt-left,' 'evangelical.' He's a conservative and he speaks to the people that elected Trump and I think that's a great position to have him in," Gilliam said.

"One thing that bothers me tremendously about journalism now … is that they throw out words like racist. I mean unless you know somebody's a racist, you're really maligning their character.

"Regardless if he was an editor of a paper where they said some things that were a little racy, you cannot accuse somebody of being a racist and consider yourself a journalist unless you have the facts. We have gone down a road in journalism that is extremely dangerously and unethical, in my position."

Gilliam said Bannon will contrast nicely with Trump's pick of Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff.



"You have Reince Priebus, who is going to handle the establishment and I just think this was a great way … to make sure you don't forget the people that elected you to office, which often happens," Gilliam said.

He said he believes Trump confidante and former prosecutor and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is rumored to be in the running for secretary of state would actually make an "amazing attorney general."

"I think he knows that, but I don't think he wants that job because there's a lot to clean up there," Gilliam said.