Upstart Republicans shun Bannon for Trump

‘ This has always been’ about president, they say

WASHINGTON – “Outsider” candidates in midterm congressional races sided with President Trump in his public spat with former adviser Steve Bannon, and Bannon’s biggest financial backer publicly severed ties with him.

Wealthy conservative Rebekah Mercer, whose family bankrolled several Bannon projects, including Breitbart News, said she has not spoken to Bannon in months.

“I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected,” Mercer said in a statement first provided to The Washington Post. “My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements.”

The loss of Mercer’s financial support could imperil Bannon’s muchtouted crusade against the Republican establishment and signal jeopardy for Bannon’s position at Breitbart, where Mercer has an ownership stake.

Insurgent candidates who had previously courted Bannon’s support minimized his role in their campaigns after excerpts of interviews with the head of Breitbart News were pub- lished by The Guardian on Wednesday.

In the interviews, from a forthcoming book, Bannon said a meeting in 2016 between Trump campaign officials, including Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”

Trump has gone on the offensive against Bannon and Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Thursday, Trump’s lawyer sent a cease- and- desist letter to Wolff and his publisher.