Democrats used Twitter to voice their outrage at Donald Trump's move, suggesting that Stephen Bannon wasn't fit for such a high-ranking position. | Getty Democrats condemn Bannon appointment

Democratic lawmakers and aides blasted President-elect Donald Trump's decision to appoint Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, saying the former Breitbart News executive was not worthy of a senior White House post.

The former Breitbart News chairman has been a hugely controversial figure who has faced allegations of racism, domestic violence and anti-Semitism during his career as a hard-line conservative activist.


"It is easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion when Trump appoints one of the foremost peddlers of White Supremacist themes and rhetoric as his top aide," said Adam Jentleson, deputy chief of staff for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in a statement.

"Bannon was 'the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill,' according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Sworn testimony in a court case alleged that Bannon committed violent domestic abuse and stated that he 'didn't want the girls [his children] going to school with Jews.'"

Jentleson noted that Breitbart ran stories such as "Bill Kristol, Renegade Jew" and "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy" during Bannon's tenure there.

POLITICO reported in August that Bannon had been charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness following an incident in early January 1996, though the case was ultimately dismissed, according to a police report and court documents.

Mary Louise Picard, Bannon's ex-wife, testified in Jan. 2007 that he didn't want their twin daughters to attend a Los Angeles school because "he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews."

A spokeswoman for Bannon told the New York Daily News that, “At the time, Mr. Bannon never said anything like that and proudly sent the girls to Archer for their middle school and high school education.”

Jason Miller, communications director for the Trump transition team, lashed out at Reid for the Bannon criticism but did not address the allegations against Trump aide.

“It is disappointing that Harry Reid’s career has come to a deafening whimper as he continues to peddle falsehoods and complete lies in order to discredit the will of the American people," Miller said in a statement. "President-elect Trump represents real change and a new era of government that works for the people, not the same, tired politics-as-usual nature of Washington that insiders like Senator Reid helped encourage throughout his career."

Other Democratic lawmakers and former Obama administration aides used Twitter to voice their outrage at Trump's move, suggesting that Bannon wasn't fit for such a high-ranking position.

"Selection of Steve Bannon for senior WH role unsurprising but alarming," added Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Twitter. "His alt-right, anti-Semitic & misogynistic views don't belong in WH [White House]."

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) tweeted, "Trump says: 'We're going to drain the swamp.' Trump does: Hires lifelong insider as Chief of Staff, invites white supremacist to move to WH."

"Has any Republican elected criticized appointment of anti-Semite to the White House senior staff? How many have called to congratulate him?," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. "How much influence he has is less relevant than an admitted white nationalist working in the White House."