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Deborah Lipstadt ‘Flabbergasted’ by Appointment of Hatemonger Steve Bannon

Historian Deborah Lipstadt has denounced Donald Trump’s appointment of right wing firebrand Steve Bannon to a top White House position, saying she is “flabbergasted” that a purveyor of hate has made it to the president’s inner circle.

“I’m flabbergasted. I’m almost at a loss for words,” Lipstadt, a Jewish historian based at Emory University, told Politico. “So far, I find that the most depressing of almost anything I’ve heard thus far.”

Lipstadt noted that Bannon’s Breitbart News has attacked minorities and provided a haven for the so-called “alt-right,” which she called a euphemism for bigotry.

“I know what the alt-right is all about,” said Lipstadt, who was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton. “It’s a bastion of white supremacists, white nationalists, anti-Semitic, racist, Islamophobic expression.”

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