The chief White House strategist Steve Bannon has attacked white nationalists as “clowns” as the fallout from violent protests in Charlottesville continues.
Mr Bannon once headed the far-right Breitbart News, seen as both a major channel for nationalism and key in helping Donald Trump win election.
But he told The American Prospect: “Ethno-nationalism – it’s losers”.
Questions surround Mr Bannon’s future, with President Trump refusing to say if he had confidence in him.
Mr Trump has reportedly been urged to fire Mr Bannon, who in his role has enjoyed direct access to the president and whose influence has been seen in decisions like the US withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.
At a news conference this week Mr Trump would only say “we’ll see” when it came to Mr Bannon’s future.
Mr Trump is under fire for his response to Saturday’s clashes between far-right and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which he blamed “both sides” for the violence.
The rally, attended by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, was in protest at the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee, a general who fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.
