An ex-wife of Donald Trump's new campaign CEO, Stephen Bannon, said Bannon made anti-Semitic remarks when the two battled over sending their daughters to private school nearly a decade ago, according to court papers reviewed Friday by The Associated Press. That revelation came a day after reports emerged that domestic violence charges were filed 20 years ago against Bannon following an altercation with his then-wife, Mary Louise Piccard. In a sworn court declaration following their divorce, Piccard said her ex-husband had objected to sending their twin daughters to an elite Los Angeles academy because he "didn't want the girls going to school with Jews." "He said he doesn't like Jews and that he doesn't like the way they raise their kids to be 'whiney brats,'" Piccard said in a 2007 court filing. Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, took the helm of Trump's campaign last week in yet another leadership shake-up. The campaign has been plagued by negative stories about staffers, including charges lodged against his former campaign manager following an altercation with a reporter, and questions about his former campaign chairman's links with Russian interests. Alexandra Preate, a spokeswoman for Bannon, denied Friday night that he made anti-Semitic remarks about the private school. "He never said that," Preate said, adding that Bannon was proud to send his daughters to the school. Trump has previously been criticized for invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes, including tweeting out an anti-Hillary Clinton image that included a Star of David atop a pile of money. He also raised eyebrows when he spoke in front of the Republican Jewish Coalition and declared, "I'm a negotiator like you folks were negotiators." Clinton has tried in recent days to highlight Trump's popularity with white nationalist and supremacist groups. She delivered a speech Thursday that linked him with the "alt-right" movement, which is often associated with efforts on the far right to preserve "white identity," oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values." Trump has pushed back, defending himself and his supporters, and labeling Clinton "a bigot" for supporting policies he argues have ravaged minority communities. Trump has noted that his daughter, Ivanka, would soon be having another Jewish child. Ivanka Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism when she married Jared Kushner, a young real estate developer who has become a driving force in his father-in-law's campaign. Bannon's remarks about Jews followed other comments that caught Piccard's attention when they were visiting private schools in 2000. At one school, she said, he asked the director why there were so many Hanukkah books in the library. At another school, he asked Piccard if it bothered her that the school used to be in a temple. "I said, 'No,' and asked why he asked," Piccard said. "He did not respond." Piccard said Bannon wanted the girls to attend a Catholic school. In 2007, when the girls were accepted at Archer, he told Piccard he objected because of the number of Jews in attendance.
