Steve Bannon, a former strategist for President Donald Trump, has left his post at Breitbart, a far-right website known for its incendiary content, which was also credited with helping Trump win the 2016 presidential election.
The company announced Bannon’s departure on Tuesday. His move comes amid heightened tension with his former boss, Trump, after the book Fire and Fury: Inside The Trump White House was released and included numerous quotes where Bannon questions the president’s mental fitness and criticizes Donald Trump Jr.
Bannon served as executive chairman of Breitbart since 2012, and served in the Trump administration from the inauguration until his ouster in August.
“I’m proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform,” Bannon said in a statement.
Breitbart CEO Larry Solov said Bannon was a “valued” part of the company’s legacy.
“We will always be grateful for his contributions, and what he has helped us to accomplish,” Solov said in the same statement.
The relationship between Bannon, who helped lead Trump’s 2016 campaign, and the president has soured in recent weeks after excerpts from Fire and Fury were released online where Bannon was quoted as calling a meeting between Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower during the election “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
In response, Trump said Bannon had “lost his mind.”
Bannon attempted to mend fences with Trump following the public spat. However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders implied that Breitbart should consider firing Bannon following the showdown between the president and his former strategist.
Following the release of Bannon’s quotes, numerous far-right commenters online seemed to begin to turn against the conservative provocateur.