Steve Bannon, Donald Trump pick, defended by Kevin McCarthy

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday defended President-elect Donald Trump’s naming of top adviser Steve Bannon, who has been assailed from the left with accusations that he is a sexist, racist and anti-Semite.

“The president-elect always gets to pick his team,” Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, told reporters at the Capitol.

He said that he spoke to Mr. Bannon on Sunday night to get acquainted but that he did not know the man very well. He deferred to Mr. Trump’s judgment.

“The president had a right to select who he thinks is best,” he said.

Mr. Bannon, who ran Breitbart News before becoming the Trump campaign chairman, has been criticized for giving white supremacists and the “Alt Right” a platform on the news website and allegations by his ex wife that he didn’t want his children going to a school with too many Jews.

The allegations about Mr. Bannon echo the accusations hurled at Mr. Trump throughout the campaign, and which have fed protests across the country after the election that have at times turned violent.

Mr. Bannon’s opponents pointed to headlines on Brietbart that they say illustrate his hate mongering, including “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy” and “Hoist it high and proud: The confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.”

Pressed by reporters about the appointment, Mr. McCarthy said that he believed in celebrating America’s diversity and that politics and the news media for too long have been focused on trying to “tear people down.”

“You can’t judge it all based on one person,” he said.

Mr. Bannon was named Sunday as White House chief strategist and senior counselor. Mr. Trump also named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff.

In the statement announcing the appointments, Mr. Bannon and Mr. Priebus were described as “co-equal advisers.”

“The president has the right to select the team, just as I do in my office,” Mr. McCarthy said.