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Steve Bannon Getting Handsy On TV Is Making Everyone Super Uncomfortable

by Alexandra Svokos
REUTERS

Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, two of Donald Trump's top men, seemed to be having some trouble getting along at the conservative CPAC conference on Thursday.

The two have a tense, awkward history. As president of Breitbart News, Bannon endorsed a lot of commentary against Priebus, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Just last week, in fact, Bannon had to stand up and shout, "I DIDN'T DO THAT," when Breitbart published a piece saying Priebus would be kicked out of his White House position.

Public interest in any sort of tension between them has reached a point at which they are now making the rounds to try and tell people they're totally friends, guys, don't worry. Priebus told New York magazine,

It bothers us because it's not true, and we actually like and care about each other a lot. So it's sort of like, if we were just sort of colleagues that kind of tolerate each other every day, maybe it wouldn't bother us. But because it's the total opposite -- and we're sitting here, and we're friends and we've kind of been to hell and back ten times together and we like each other -- so then we see these things, yeah, it bothers us because it sort of hurts our friendship, and it's not truthful.

All this talk is what made Priebus and Bannon's interaction at CPAC noteworthy.

The two spoke together at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) on Thursday.

And that's when this happened:

Bannon reached over and touched Priebus's leg. The look on Priebus's face -- as well as the action of his hand swatting Bannon away -- speaks volumes.

But they're best friends, right?

Of course, the internet had fun reacting to Bannon and Priebus at CPAC.

This Bannon-Priebus moment was made all the more awkward because they were at CPAC to show the strength of their working relationship.

Priebus called Bannon "a vey dear friend" and said they "share an office suite together," happily working long hours.

Move along, folks, definitely nothing to see here, everything's going swimmingly in the Trump administration.

Citations: Steve Bannon 'livid' with Breitbart over Priebus report (CNN), Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Want You to Know They Are Friends (New York), Watch Reince Preibus's Cringeworthy Reaction To Steve Bannon (Raw Story), Reince Priebus reacts awkwardly to Steve Bannon's touch on live TV (Mashable), Top Trump Advisers Bannon And Priebus Emphasize Unity At CPAC (NPR)