Bannon vows to support Trump
Steve Bannon pledged his continued support of Donald Trump after the president’s forceful denunciation of his former chief strategist finalized a political divorce that is forcing a reckoning within the Republican Party.
“Nothing will ever come between us and President Trump and his agenda,” Bannon told a caller on Breitbart radio Thursday morning, adding, “We’re tight on this agenda as we’ve ever been.”
The rift between the former political partners was sparked by comments Bannon made in a forthcoming book about the Trump White House, calling meetings between Trump’s family members and Russian operatives “treasonous,” among other statements. Trump’s lawyer sent Bannon a cease-and- desist letter alleging he broke a con- fidentiality agreement by “making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements” about Trump and his family to the book’s author.
Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday that Bannon’s more complimentary comments Wednesday evening and Thursday show his former aide “obviously changed his tune very quick.” He added that he is no longer in regular touch with Bannon, saying, “I don’t talk to him. That’s just a misnomer.”
The breakup between the two is primed to benefit establishment Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who’s long argued that Bannon’s promotion of fringe candidates hurts Republican chances to retain control of Congress. McConnell’s allies openly cheered Trump’s break with Bannon, after excerpts from the book emerged Wednesday.
Candidates, donors and party leaders will likely be forced to choose sides— between Bannon, the blustery face of far-right populist nationalism, and the president who elevated that ideology to the Oval Office.
The book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” portrays the president as paranoid, erratic and often inept and his administration as riven by petty rivalries that often made accomplishing anything impossible. At the heart of it is Bannon, whomauthor MichaelWolff quotes discussing his concern that any attempt by Trump to fire special counsel Robert Mueller over his Russia investigation “just brings the impeachment quicker,” according to a copy of the book obtained by Bloomberg.
In the book, Bannon recounts telling Trump that not only would Attorney General Jeff Sessions leave but also other Trump Justice Department appointees. “We’ll be digging down into Obama career guys. An Obama guy will be acting attorney general,” Bannon says. He calls one member of Mueller’s team, Andrew Weissmann, “the LeBron James of money laundering investigations,” a sign to Bannon that was a primary focus of the probe. He also makes clear that he considers Trump’s son at risk of indictment — saying Mueller will “crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV” over his meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in June 2016. Bannon called the meeting “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” He also considers Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner at risk for “greasy” deals.
Bannon pledged to continue supporting Trump on radio broadcasts.
“The president of the United States is a great man,” Bannon said late Wednesday on “Breitbart News Tonight,” a radio broadcast on Sirius XM. “You know I support him day in and day out.”