Ex-con MAGA darling Steve Bannon expressed confidence in President-elect Donald Trump's electoral chances when Paul appeared to have the support of even the toughest crowd: Bannon's fellow inmates. He said he had it.
“Number one, they think he's a gangster. Number two, they just admire him as a gladiator,” Bannon said. told the British Times.
Bannon, 71, was jailed in July after being found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to subpoena testimony and documents by the now-defunct House of Representatives Jan. 6 Committee. . He was released from prison in late October, days before the November 5 election.
Mr. Bannon spent his time in prison imparting civics and other lessons to his fellow inmates, who were mostly black and Hispanic men, and appears to be a full supporter of Mr. Trump inside prison. said.
At least some states, including New York, allow convicted felons to vote again, but only after they serve their sentences.
“I just taught capital markets and things like that,” Bannon said of his time in prison, adding sarcastically, “I'm here to rebel, but I'm teaching civics.”
A Democratic-led House committee was seeking information about Bannon's plot to overturn the 2020 election. But the former White House chief strategist argued that executive privilege precluded him from complying, even though he was not actually in the Trump administration during the period in question.
Before reporting to prison, Mr. Bannon insisted he was “proud” to serve his sentence and that he was a “political prisoner.”
Now that Trump has won the presidential election, Bannon, known for his toothless approach to politics, says the Make America Great Again movement still has work to do in rooting out Republicans who resist the policy. He said he believed that.
“We're very close,” he told the media. “We just need to see this through.”
Bannon said he believes the movement could continue to dominate for years if President Trump can implement his policies in his next term.
“If we can deliver now, we're done. They gave it to President Trump. If he implements this economics… we'll be governing for 50 years. What we'll lose. That's it,” Bannon surmised to reporters.
“We need to institutionalize a populist nationalist revolution in this country, but to do that we need to take control of the system, purge it, reform it, and create an image and likeness of the American people, of the working men and women of this country. This can only be achieved by transforming it into
Bannon claims he is neither a conservative nor a Republican, but rather a xenophobic who puts America first and wants to keep the country out of foreign wars.
Bannon claimed that the terms “Republican” and “Democrat” are unrelated. “Those are old categories and they don't matter. You're either a populist nationalist or a global elitist.”
Bannon has moved away from Republican politics and wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and billionaires.
“I keep saying to the wealthy: 'You have to understand something. Unless this changes, there will be a French Revolution in this country,'” Bannon insisted.
“Every law, every action the government takes, should put the American people first, not just America first. It's about how this affects ordinary men or women, especially [in terms of] Their economic interests,” he added at another point in the interview with the Times.
Bannon also rejected some of the culture war politics that have engulfed the Republican Party in recent days, such as the fight over transgender bathrooms.
“I call them light-up toys and light-up ponies,” Mr. Bannon said dismissively of these skirmishes. “That's a misdirection play.”
Bannon also believes that Europe is poised for a populist uprising similar to the MAGA movement. He told a British newspaper that he believed Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform Britain, would eventually become British Prime Minister.
“Everyone has a role in life, right?” Bannon insisted. “Someone has to break the system so someone else can come in and build it.”
