Stephen Bannon has just been appointed by President-Elect Donald Trump as chief strategist and political counselor in his upcoming administration. We the undersigned demand that he be excluded from playing any role in the White House.

Bannon was CEO of Donald Trump’s election campaign, responsible for some of its most divisive rhetoric, and is the former executive chairman of the “alt-right” news website Breitbart, which has aggressively fostered a brand of racist xenophobia and conspiracy theory that until recently was to be found only in the darkest corners of the internet. Bannon's presence in the White House will only make this kind of hate and paranoia more mainstream. If Donald Trump is serious about bringing Americans together again after a bitter election campaign, he can send a signal by denying Bannon a place in the direct governance of our country.

This is not simply a matter of national reconciliation, but also a matter of national security. Around the world, but especially in Europe and Russia, neo-Fascist movements have hailed the election of Donald Trump, seeing in it the rise of what one well-known Russian fascist activist, Egor Kholmogorov, has called a new “Conintern,” or Conservative International, bent on destroying the liberal democratic paradigm that has prevailed in the West since the Second World War. These are people who have nothing but contempt for the values that Americans have held dear and fought for since our Republic was founded over two centuries ago: representative democracy, universal human rights, and above all the idea of a common humanity that transcends any nation, race or gender. Breitbart actively supports these extremist groups, and as far as the “Conintern” is concerned, Stephen Bannon will in turn be “their” man in the White House. This should trouble Republicans as much as it troubles Democrats; it should trouble any American who thinks the values of liberal democracy are worth fighting for, even as we argue about whether we have been able to live up to them.

Keep Stephen Bannon out of the White House.