The assumption that questioning white nationalism and white supremacy—as Remnick surely would have done—is tantamount to “normalizing” white nationalism and white supremacy is similarly troubling. It calls into question whether journalists should do their jobs, lest they normalize all manner of terrible things they must inevitably cover. Bannon is distasteful to many of people who read the New Yorker, but he is also a powerful player in the American landscape. He may trade on ignorance, but he is wise to a certain virulent strain of American politics, and this makes understanding him (and his supporters) of critical importance—they are Americans and they vote.

And yet, detractors on Twitter equated this live interview with the editor of the New Yorker to “putting onstage a man who recommends everyone read Mein Kampf & letting him promote his new company.” Surely one of the country’s best editors had more in mind than promoting Nazi propaganda? Logic, though, did not seem to be the point of this criticism; dismissal and disavowal—a more controlled form of rage—seemed to be the point.