Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
In Broward, Bannon steps back from Moore
Strategist: Senate candidate’s fate amid sex scandal is up to Alabama voters
Steve Bannon, the strategist who guided Donald Trump during the final phase of his campaign and early months of his presidency, told a South Florida audience Friday that critics won’t be satisfied unless they can drive Trump from office, ridiculed the idea of election-season collusion with the Russians, and declined to defend his candidate in the Alabama Senate race.
On the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate, Bannon echoed the position of the White House, declining to say what should happen with Republican candidate Roy Moore — who he championed as part of his crusade against the Republican Party establishment. Moore’s candidacy has been rocked by a series of allegations that he had an inappropriate sexual interest in teen girls when he was in his 30s, with some alleging unwanted touching.
“In Alabama, let people decide and we’ll see how it turns out.” Steve Bannon, on Senate candidate Roy Moore
“The people of Alabama have got to decide,” he said. “In Alabama, let people decide and we’ll see how it turns out.”
That’s a notable move away from Moore. In the early days of the Moore scandal, Bannon sought to help him by attempting to discredit the allegations by complaining the information was uncovered by the Washington Post. Bannon frequently attempts to discredit the mainstream news media as a sinister force.
Bannon predicted, but didn’t offer any details, that “some information’s going to come out” that would show the claims about Moore were part of an establishment Republican “hit” because they don’t like what the candidate represents.
On Russia, he rejected as laughable the notion that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians to influence the results of the 2016 campaign. Several congressional committees — controlled by Republicans — are investigating Russian interference in the election, as is Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
“We couldn’t collude with the Trump people in Florida and the [Republican National Committee] people,” Bannon said. “This collusion thing is a total fantasy.”
He said the focus on Russia is the Democrats’ way to explain away Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump. “They cannot accept the fact that the ‘deplorables’ voted them out of office, that the elites were rejected by the men and women of this country.”
On critics of the president, he said they wouldn’t be satisfied unless they can get Trump’s resignation or impeachment. He said the opposition Democrats aren’t the only ones attempting to get the president removed, also blaming global elites who benefit from the economic system Trump is threatening to upend. Their ultimate objective, he asserted, is delegitimizing the political movement that sent an outsider like Trump to the White House.
Bannon directed some of his greatest scorn at key members of the Republican Party: senators who have criticized Trump or those he sees as insufficiently committed to pursing the president’s agenda. He is targeting many Republican senators, hoping they’ll be defeated in primaries next year, with the aim of revolutionizing the Senate — and removing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“We’re not going to stop until Mitch McConnell is no longer majority leader,” he said.
He said he’s not going after Republicans in the House in the same way because he doesn’t want to risk causing losses that could put Democrats in control. “If they win they’re going to impeach him,” Bannon warned.
Bannon had hoped to slip into Fort Lauderdale unnoticed, deliver his midday presentation at the Tripp Scott law firm, then return to a two-day conference he’s participating in at The Breakers in Palm Beach. That didn’t happen.
Progressive groups got wind of the event, at a downtown Fort Lauderdale office tower, and put out the word via Facebook, asking activists to convene for a protest. The sidewalk protest was a bust; three protesters and a dog gathered as several Fort Lauderdale police officers watched.
Alex Newell Taylor of West Palm Beach said people need to understand the dark side of Bannon. “He’s brought hate and bigotry to the highest levels of our government. And I want him to know that this community won’t accept that,” she said. “There’s a lot of evidence that he pushes a white nationalist agenda.”
Much of the criticism of Bannon stems from his leadership role at Breitbart, a website favored by populist insurgents who dislike both Democrats and the Republican establishment. It’s a favorite of the so-called altright, a mostly online movement that is generally white nationalist, nativist, populist and largely supportive of Trump.
Ed Pozzuoli, CEO of the Tripp Scott firm, which hosted Bannon, said the speaking invitation wasn’t an endorsement of his views.
Bannon appeared as part of the Tripp Scott law firm’s “Politics & Sunshine” public policy series, at which a range of people speak to the firm’s lawyers and clients. On Monday, the firm hosted Bob Graham, the former Democratic governor and U.S. senator, and his daughter, Gwen Graham, who is running for governor.
“It gives people a great understanding of different views. We don’t endorse the views of our guests,” Pozzuoli said. “Steve Bannon is an influential figure, whether you agree with his positions or not.”
The gathering wasn’t open to the public, but Tripp Scott allowed reporters from the South Florida Sun Sentinel and WPLG-Ch. 10 to attend.
Bannon described Trump as “an American hero” and “the greatest” orator the nation has seen since the late 1800s. Still, he described a campaign that was “in pretty much disarray, no organization, no cash,” when he arrived in August 2016 to become its chief executive.
By focusing on three themes – stopping “mass illegal immigration,” bringing high-value manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and ending “pointless foreign wars,” Trump was able to appeal to working-class voters who felt left behind by decisions made by corporate elites who reaped the benefits of free trade and globalization. The themes were manifested in slogans that became wellknown: “Drain The Swamp, Lock Her Up, Build the Wall.”
Bill Poirier, of Lighthouse Point, said he was glad to hear what Bannon had to say.
“He’s an amazing speaker with a profound understanding of the global realism we live in today,” he said. “What was refreshing is he seems to have a very clear idea about where we need to head as a nation, no matter whether you have an R on your coat or a D.”