Why the Trump-Bannon Feud Isn’t As Fun As It Seems

Michael Wolf’s new book, Fire and Fury, includes allegations from Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief executive officer, during the latter part of the campaign that Trump’s previous campaign manager, Paul Manafort, Trump’s son Donald Jr. and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner’s meeting with Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskay, was treasonous.

Trump has fired back at Bannon, declaring “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind … Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country … Steve doesn’t represent my base — he’s only in it for himself.”

All of this is very weird and easy to make light of. It’s easy to want to point at the ridiculousness of the situation and laugh — and in many ways, it does feel comical. But don’t let that trick you out of the seriousness of it all.

If we take Bannon at his word, he actively helped a man campaign and win the presidency when he knew treason had been committed.

If we take Trump at his word, he hired a man as his most important advisor who was so mentally delicate that he “broke” after getting fired.

That’s what makes it funny in many ways. But it’s also what makes things so…