Steve Bannon

{{Bronze}}
[[File:Steve Bannon 2023 by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|right|165px|If Bill Murray was a drug addict and a drunk racist.]]
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{{hatnote|We're sorry, are you looking for [[Pat Buchanan]]?}}
{{cquote|<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Donald Trump]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> is a blunt instrument for us … I don’t know whether he really gets it or not.|||Bannon, in probably one of many statements that contributed to his removal.<ref>Stern, Ken, [http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/08/breitbart-stephen-bannon-donald-trump-master-plan "Exclusive: Stephen Bannon, Trump’s New C.E.O., Hints at His Master Plan"], ''Vanity Fair'' (8/17/16 at 6:00 pm).</ref>}}
'''Stephen Kevin Bannon''' {{lived|1953}} is an American businessman, "documentarian", and former executive chairman of [[Breitbart.com]], an [[alt-right]] online tabloid.<ref name='BBC'>[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42628201 ''Steve Bannon leaves Breitbart News amid Trump row''] --BBC News, 9 January 2018</ref> Bannon is the self-made man Trump pretends to be: from Naval Officer to Harvard grad, to [[Goldman Sachs]] banker ([[Federal Reserve|oh boy]]), to Hollywood producer, to an anti-[[US]] [[Globalization|globalist]] tool,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/steve-bannon-once-guided-a-global-firm-that-made-millions-helping-gamers-cheat/2017/08/04/ef7ae442-76c8-11e7-803f-a6c989606ac7_story.html Stephen Bannon once guided a global firm that made millions helping gamers cheat] by Shawn Boburg & Emily Rauhala (August 4, 2017 at 11:15 AM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> to hobo,<ref>Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/during-his-political-rise-stephen-k-bannon-was-a-man-with-no-fixed-address/2017/03/11/89866f4c-0285-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html "During his political rise, Stephen K. Bannon was a man with no fixed address"], [[WaPo]] 3.11.17.</ref> to (eccentric) [[media]] mogul, to White House senior staffer,<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/world/2017/03/alt-right-leninist The alt-right Leninist]</ref> to being indicted on federal fraud charges.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/nyregion/steve-bannon-arrested-indicted.html Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign] By Alan Feuer, William K. Rashbaum and Maggie Haberman (Published Aug. 20, 2020) ''The New York Times''</ref>

According to Ronald Radosh, Bannon sees himself as a "Leninist", stating, "[[Lenin]] wanted to destroy the state, and that's my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment."<ref name=radosh>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/22/steve-bannon-trump-s-top-guy-told-me-he-was-a-leninist.html?via=desktop&source=twitter Steve Bannon, Trump's Top Guy, Told Me He Was 'A Leninist' Who Wants To ‘Destroy the State’: The Breitbart executive director turned GOP leader boasted at a party about his goal of destroying the conservative establishment] by Ronald Radosh (08.21.16 10:00 PM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref> And that includes the [[Republican Party]] itself.<ref>Gray, Rosie, [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/does-trumps-resident-intellectual-speak-for-his-boss/520683/ "The Populist Nationalist on Trump's National Security Council"], ''Atlantic'' (3/24/17 at 5:00AM).</ref>

The similarities between the Breitbart crowd and Project Mayhem from ''[[Fight Club]]'' are strange.<ref>Farhi, Paul, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-breitbart-has-become-a-dominant-voice-in-conservative-media/2016/01/27/a705cb88-befe-11e5-9443-7074c3645405_story.html?utm_term=.8b7cb6a8a84c "How Breitbart has become a dominant voice in conservative media"] WaPo 1.27.16.</ref> But it's not corporations they're at war with: it's [[Multiculturalism|cosmopolitans]] and [[Elitism|elites]].

After making every possible political mistake, Bannon was finally let go from the Trump administration on August 18, 2017.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/steve-bannon-trump-white-house.html</ref> He returned to Breitbart, only to be canned from that organization. The [[BBC]] reported on January 9, 2018, "Steve Bannon's fall from power is now complete."<ref name='BBC'/> 

In November 2021, Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress.<ref>Carrie Johnson, [https://www.npr.org/2021/11/12/1054309797/steve-bannon-contempt-congress-justice-department?t=1636754805832 Justice Department charges Steve Bannon with criminal contempt of Congress]. [[NPR]], 12 November 2021.</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/stephen-k-bannon-indicted-contempt-congress Stephen K. Bannon Indicted for Contempt of Congress]. United States Department of Justice, 12 November 2021.</ref> Bannon was found guilty of both counts on July 22, 2022,<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/stephen-k-bannon-found-guilty-jury-two-counts-contempt-congress "Stephen K. Bannon Found Guilty by Jury of Two Counts of Contempt of Congress"], press release, United States Attorney's Office District of Columbia, 2022 July 22</ref> and sentenced to 4 months in prison on October 21, 2022.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/21/steve-bannon-to-be-sentenced-after-ex-trump-aide-defied-jan-6-subpoena.html "Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in jail for contempt of Congress"] by Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 2022 October 21</ref>

==Oeuvre==

[[File:NMD 2019 steve bannon 23 (47021984524).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Bannon, who always looks hungover and can't tie his shoes properly.]]
{{cquote|Darkness is good… [[Dick Cheney]]. Darth Vader. [[Satan]]. That's power. It only helps us when [liberals] get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing.|||Bannon<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/politics/steve-bannon-donald-trump-hollywood-reporter-interview/], ''CNNPolitics.com''</ref>}} 

As a film director, Bannon modeled himself on [[Michael Moore]] and {{wpl|Leni Riefenstahl||.}}<ref>Pearce, Matt, [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-bannon-influences-20161209-story.html "Stephen Bannon found inspiration in ancient thinkers, Ronald Reagan and Nazi propaganda"], ''L.A. Times'' (12/9.16 at 1:10 PM).</ref> He bankrolled his projects with the residuals from ''Seinfeld'', which he had a small hand in producing.<ref>Stern, Marlow, [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/17/rob-reiner-on-steve-bannon-getting-rich-off-seinfeld-it-makes-me-sick.html "Rob Reiner on Steve Bannon Getting Rich Off ‘Seinfeld’: ‘It Makes Me Sick’"], ''Daily Beast'' (11.17.16 4:59 AM ET).</ref>

If you look at his love affair with [[Sarah Palin]], it's clear that he has been looking for an empty vessel to enact his policy agenda for some time:

{{quotebox|Bannon began receiving conservative media attention for his documentary ''Generation Zero''. And he began elevating his profile by latching onto [[Michele Bachmann]] with his documentary ''Fire From The Heartland''. But he truly insinuated himself into the circles of conservative power by making a 2011 documentary about Sarah Palin, ''The Undefeated''. His connection with Palin upped his brand in the movement significantly. He soon began appearing on [[Fox News]] with [[Sean Hannity]] fairly regularly, became personal friends with Hannity, and met Andrew Breitbart. He insinuated himself into Breitbart’s business by lending him office space [...] he used his role as Breitbart CEO to turn the outlet into ''Trump Pravda'', creating a stepping stone to close connection with Trump. Breitbart publicly burned bridges with everyone to maintain its Trump loyalty. &mdash; [[Ben Shapiro]]<ref name="shapiro">Shapiro, [http://www.dailywire.com/news/8441/i-know-trumps-new-campaign-chairman-steve-bannon-ben-shapiro "I Know Trump's New Campaign Chairman, Steve Bannon. Here's What You Need To Know."], ''The Daily Wire'' 11.13.16.</ref>}}

In 2012, Bannon directed ''Occupy Unmasked'', a "documentary" about the "sinister" nature of the [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement and their connections to Obama.

==War...War never changes==
He was also involved with {{wpl|Biosphere 2||,}} a loony [[Fun:Arizona|Arizona]] project to test whether 8 "dedicated researchers" could live self-sufficiently and grow their own food (they couldn't, as they paired off and started fucking to pass the time, while also splitting into two factions of four that hated each other), first as a cost overrun investigator (for instance, the then-CEO of the management company has used some of the funds to redecorate her house), then as CEO. He was accused of harassing women at the project. It all ended in a lawsuit.<ref>[https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-strange-history-of-steve-bannon-and-the-biosphere-2-experiment "The Strange History of Steve Bannon and the Biosphere 2 Experiment"], ''Vice''.</ref><ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/stephen-bannon-donald-trump-biosphere-2-arizona/ "Trump’s Campaign CEO Ran a Secretive Sci-Fi Project in the Arizona Desert"], ''Mother Jones''.</ref> Apparently, around this time, he was well acquainted with and studied the basics of [[global warming]], ''believing'' in it and even being concerned with its [[ethics|ethical]] issues.<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/141102/steve-bannon-used-believe-science-now-hes-americas-top-climate-villain "Steve Bannon Used to Believe in Science. Now He’s America’s Top Climate Villain"], ''The New Republic''.</ref>

==Views==
{{cquote|On the surface, Bannon is just another vicious ex-hippie of the [[David Horowitz]]/[[Michael Savage]] school, a former Grateful Dead fan who overswung the other way to embrace a Nazistic "culture first" alt-right movement.|||[[Matt Taibbi]]<ref>Taibi, [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-on-trump-the-destroyer-w473144 "Trump the Destroyer"], ''Rolling Stone'' 3.22.17.</ref>}}

His political views are hard to know. He doesn't give many interviews or talk about his personal life, and his speeches are [[Triangulation|all over the map]]—most likely because he has an agenda that he's not fully disclosing, so some of his stated "beliefs" are a means to an end. The best way to collect information on him would be to listen to every episode of ''Breitbart News Radio'' he's hosted. But since we can't do that, here are the facts.

===Economics===
{{main|Reaganism}}

In an interview with the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', Bannon traced the genesis of his economic outlook to his father, Marty, who got burned by Jim Cramer{{onion}} and lost a lot of money in 2008.<ref>Bryan, Bob, [http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-bannon-dad-stock-selling-jim-cramer-economic-nationalism-2017-3 "Trump adviser Steve Bannon attributes his worldview to a simple stock-investing mistake his dad made after listening to Jim Cramer"], Business Insider (3/15/17 at 10:36 AM).</ref> This shattered his confidence in institutions (though apparently not in pundits). If we were to give Marty the benefit of the doubt at that time, starting at 39.90 a share, it would have dropped to 26.77 on October 31, 2008. This means that Marty would have had 300-400k in AT&T stock alone. Marty had enough money in the market to lose 100k on one company, and he's griping that no one was paying attention to his family during one of the biggest economic crises in history. People were being thrown out of their homes; maybe there were other pressing concerns. And the Trump cabinet is pushing for the fiduciary laws to be killed, which makes no sense in this context.<ref>Ben Protess and Julie Hirschfield Davis, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/business/dealbook/trump-congress-financial-regulations.html?_r=0 "Trump Moves to Roll Back Obama-Era Financial Regulations"], [[NYT]] 2.3.17.</ref>

Over the past couple of decades, you've heard from the people at [[World Economic Forum|Davos]] that the age of the "nation-state" is over. Not if Steve Bannon has anything to say about it! In the past, he criticized the political establishment for funneling wealth from the working class of the United States to create a new middle class in [[China]].<ref name="wolff">Wolff, Michael, [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steve-bannon-trump-tower-interview-trumps-strategist-plots-new-political-movement-948747 "Ringside With Steve Bannon at Trump Tower as the President-Elect's Strategist Plots 'An Entirely New Political Movement'"], Hollywood Reporter (11/18/16 at 10:00 AM PST).</ref>

The most cryptic thoughts shared by Bannon refer to the three types of [[capitalism]]. During a [[Vatican]] speech, Bannon criticized state capitalism and [[Ayn Rand]]-cutthroat capitalism. Bannon instead wants to create (or [[Good old days|recreate]]) a form of capitalism based on [[Christian]] values.<ref>Purdy, Jedediah, [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-steve-bannon-peter-thiel-214490 "The Anti-Democratic Worldview of Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel"], Politico 11.30.16.</ref> Mixed into the Kool-Aid is a call for a proletarian revolution.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-jordan-schachtel-january-11-2016 "I'm the patron saint of commoners!"], Breitbart News Daily with Jordan Schachtel 1.11.16.</ref> He calls on Christians everywhere to rise against "crony capitalists" and Wall Street<ref>Levitz, Eric, [http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/why-steve-bannon-hates-paul-ryan.html "Why Steve Bannon Hates Paul Ryan"], ''New York Magazine''(11/17/16 at 10:14 a.m).</ref> and to support "a cap on wealth creation and distribution".

Democrats and Republicans support global alliances and trade deals like Bretton Woods, [[NAFTA]], the [[EU]], the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, and the [[UN]]. These are the cornerstones of the liberal world order. When Bannon says he wants to "destroy" the bipartisan "establishment", this is what he wants to destroy. From his point of view, he's saving the United States from the forces that have drained its wealth. By forcing China (and Europe) back into their cage, the hope is that other nations of the world can no longer depend on American largesse and will take responsibility for their own survival and growth.

===Islam===
[[File:Bannon-alQaeda.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Bannon on the front cover of the al-Qaeda official newspaper (''Al Masra'') in February 2017]]
{{cquote|Talk to us about this mosque on the North Pole.|||Bannon<ref name="northpole">[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-dr-thomas-d-williams-february-25-2016?in=breitbart/sets/breitbart-news-daily-69#t=5:50 Breitbart News Daily with Dr. Thomas D. Williams], 2.25.16.</ref>}}

As to the cultural side, Bannon has said he believes a country is more than an economy. This is probably why Breitbart is so opposed to the refugee resettlement program:<ref>Blue, Miranda, [http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/steve-bannons-dystopian-view-of-refugees/ "Steve Bannon’s Dystopian View Of Refugees"], [[Right Wing Watch]] (1/31/17 at 12:59 pm).</ref> he sees Muslim immigration as a threat to European culture—''his'' culture.

In the days after the [[September 11 attacks]], former [[Malaysian]] Prime Minister Mahathir condemned the attackers and gave a speech in which he said, "Islam is peace." That statement was repeated by [[George W. Bush]]. On his radio program, Bannon said it was "the dumbest" comment that Bush made.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-dr-thomas-d-williams-may-11-2016?in=breitbart/sets/breitbart-news-daily-may-11#t=0:47 Breitbart News Daily with Dr. Thomas D. Williams], 5.11.16.</ref> In subsequent shows, Bannon sarcastically refers to Islam as the "religion of peace". (In fairness, so do we sometimes.)

In various interviews on Breitbart News Daily, Bannon told his listeners that the [[Western world]] is engaged in a [[Clash of Civilizations|"global existential war"]]: "I think that most people in the [[Middle East]], at least 50%, believe in being '[[Sharia law|sharia]]-compliant'", by which he means Islam-observant.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-rosemary-jenks-december-8-2015 Breitbart News Daily with Rosemary Jenks], 12.8.15. (This is [[Horseshoe theory|pretty much the logic of ISIS]], too.)</ref> In interviews with [[Frank Gaffney]] and others, he entertained claims of a "fifth column" of Islamist sympathizers that has infiltrated the government and news media.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-john-guandolo-july-15-2016 Breitbart News Daily with John Guandolo], 7.15.16.</ref><ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-frank-gaffney-june-29-2016 Breitbart News Daily], with [[Frank Gaffney]], 7.29.16.</ref> 

[[Al-Qaeda]] enjoyed his saber-rattling so much that they used him as a recruiting tool in their official newspaper.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/03/al-qaeda-likes-steve-bannon-so-much-they-put-him-on-the-cover-of-their-official-newspaper/ Al-Qaeda likes Steve Bannon so much, they put him on the cover of their official newspaper] by Amanda Erickson (March 3 at 2:35 PM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Good one, Steve!

===Playing footsie with Nazis===
{{cquote|I think in the closing days of the campaign if you listen to what Trump was saying—I mean, it was unhinged—I mean, this stuff about dark conspiracy theories and cabals of global bankers. It struck tones, I think, that were [[International Jewish conspiracy|anti-Semitic]]. I would argue that Trump in the final weeks of the campaign was, you know, mainlining the purest distillation of Bannon's views out there on the stump. And, to my shock and a lot of other peoples', that actually resonated with a much larger segment of the electorate than we had anticipated.|||Joshua Green<ref>[http://www.npr.org/2016/11/17/502413784/journalist-says-steve-bannon-had-a-years-long-plan-to-take-down-hillary-clinton "Journalist Says Steve Bannon Had A 'Years-Long Plan' To Take Down Hillary Clinton"], ''Fresh Air'' (11/17/16 at 2:20 PM ET).</ref>}}

Bannon is most-known for promoting [[sexist]] and [[racism|bigoted]] views through his website.<ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/stephen-bannon-donald-trump-alt-right-breitbart-news How Donald Trump's New Campaign Chief Created an Online Haven for White Nationalists: Breitbart News is "the platform for the alt-right," boasts Stephen Bannon] by Sarah PosnerRealist_left (Aug. 22, 2016, 5:00 AM) ''Mother Jones''.</ref> His defenders say that Breitbart's "headlines are designed to attract attention and readers, and are not necessarily evidence that Bannon himself is an anti-Semite, a misogynist, or an anti-Muslim bigot".<ref>[https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/steve-bannon-five-things-to-know Steve Bannon: Five Things to Know], [[Anti-Defamation League]], accessed April 27, 2018</ref> But Bannon may be an [[White nationalism|ethnic nationalist]], as some have said. The rumors come from a conversation he and Trump had where Trump was sympathetic toward Asian immigrants needed in the tech sector. Bannon responded by saying that he thought they had too many of them already and that they undermined civic society.<ref>Kosoff, Amy, [http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/steve-bannon-racist-comments-silicon-valley-inaccurate "Steve Bannon’s Racist Comments About Silicon Valley Are Also Wildly Inaccurate"], ''Vanity Fair'' (11/17/16 at 9:37 am).</ref> It's incredibly suspect that he's partnered with people/headed initiatives that push [[xenophobia]]. If he does have a [[white nationalist]] agenda, that would explain the [[Bait-and-switch|reticence]] to be open on any coherent viewpoint.<ref group="note">Bannon also supports [[Israel]], and he is by no means an anomaly, as there are some in the alt-right who are firmly pro-Israel, insofar as it's a place where they can send [[Jews]] to get rid of them and/or use it as a model for their own white ethnostate.</ref>

In any case, he ''is'' a nationalist. He described himself as an "economic nationalist" in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.<ref name="wolff" /> He has expressed a desire to end illegal and legal immigration, so it is more accurate to say he is a cultural nationalist. He doesn't like how the United States government operates and would rather it be replaced with another form of government. Whites make up 70% of the electorate, though they're in decline; appeal to enough whites, and it becomes easier to enact your agenda.

In August 2024, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported (via the {{wpl|Institute for Strategic Dialogue}} think-tank) that an {{wpl|accelerationism}}-oriented [[neo-Nazi]] [[UK]]-designated [[terrorist]] group called {{wpl|Terrorgram}} ran a [[Telegram]] channel that purported to claim that it was the official home of Steve Bannon's "War Room Posse". Although one of the administrators of this channel claimed that Bannon was involved, there is no evidence that Bannon is associated with this channel in any way. But it does suggest that neo-Nazis view Bannon's audience as one who would be susceptible to their [[extremist]] [[fascist]] [[propaganda]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/20/neo-nazi-terrorist-group-steve-bannon-account "Neo-Nazi terrorist group using Steve Bannon account to radicalize people"] by Ben Makuch, Guardian, 2024 August 20</ref><ref>[https://newrepublic.com/post/185066/nazis-steve-bannon-podcast-radicalization-recruitment "The Terrifying Way Literal Nazis Are Using Steve Bannon’s Podcast"] by Edith Olmsted, New Republic, 2024 August 20</ref>

====The kids are alt-right====
The pipeline from [[Gamergate]] to the alt-right is well-documented. Pre-''Breitbart'', [[Milo Yiannopoulos]] referred to gamers as “pungent beta male bollock-scratchers and twelve-year-olds”.<ref>[https://archive.ph/q7d6v Twitter post]</ref><ref>[https://archive.ph/yWz2f/image Twitter post]</ref> When Gamergate exploded, Yiannopoulos was brought on by Steve Bannon to appeal to gamers, which Bannon himself admits was an attempt to court them politically.<ref>Bernstein, Joseph, [https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism "Here's How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled White Nationalism Into The Mainstream"], ''Buzzfeed'' (5 October 2017 at 4:28 p.m. ET).</ref><ref>Snider, Mark, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/07/18/steve-bannon-learned-harness-troll-army-world-warcraft/489713001/ "Steve Bannon learned to harness troll army from 'World of Warcraft'"], ''USA Today'' (Updated 18 July 2017 at 7:28 p.m. ET).</ref> In 2014, Yiannopoulos published his first ''Breitbart'' article on Gamergate, just [[Timeline of Gamergate|a couple of weeks]] after Eron Gjoni began shopping the story that would become "Gamergate" on [[4chan]], ''Something Awful'', and ''Penny Arcade''.

What does that have to do with the alt-right? Yiannopoulos was a spokesman for both movements. On March 29, 2016, Milo published “An Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right."<ref>[http://archive.ph/eARWI An Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right.] breitbart.com, 29 March 2016.</ref> It later came out through leaked emails that he was workshopping that article with Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer (who himself publishes on ''[[The Daily Stormer]]'') and Devin Saucier (the editor of the white supremacist magazine ''[[American Renaissance]]'').<ref>Garcia, Catherine (6 October 2017). [http://theweek.com/speedreads/729269/leaked-emails-show-how-milo-yiannopoulos-worked-stephen-bannon-altright-transform-breitbart "Leaked emails show how Milo Yiannopoulos worked with Stephen Bannon, alt-right to transform Breitbart"]. ''The Week''. Retrieved 6 October 2017.</ref> Then there was that time Yiannopoulos sang “America The Beautiful” in front of a live audience, including [[Richard Spencer]], who gave Milo a Sieg Heil.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLNLPIRS62g Milo Yiannopoulos And White Supremacists At Karaoke.] [[Youtube]].</ref>

===Great Walls of Fire===
While hosting his radio show, Bannon made statements that diverged from 45 years of foreign policy:
{{quotebox|We’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to 10 years, aren’t we? There’s no doubt about that. They’re taking their sandbars and making basically stationary aircraft carriers and putting missiles on those. They come here to the United States in front of our face — and you understand how important face is — and say it’s an ancient territorial sea.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-lee-edwards-march-10-2016 Breitbart News Daily with Lee Edwards], 5.10.16.</ref>}}

America hereby declares war on China and volunteers Steve Bannon as our lone soldier. His bravery will not be forgotten.

But...wait, missiles on "aircraft carriers"? Aren't aircraft carriers for planes and stuff?

==Political career==
{{cquote|We look at [[London]] and [[Texas]] as two fronts in our current cultural and political war.|||Bannon<ref>Kaufman, Leslie, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/business/media/breitbart-news-network-plans-global-expansion.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0 "Breitbart News Network Plans Global Expansion"], [[NYT]] 2.16.14.</ref>}}

Bannon says many things, but money talks louder: he has an affinity for grassroots parties, especially those with a "center-right"<ref name="feder">Feder, J. Lester, [https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world "This Is How Steve Bannon Sees The Entire World"], Buzzfeed (updated 11/16/16 at 11:49 a.m.).</ref> or "Judeo-Christian" focus.<ref name="northpole" /> This includes European populist parties like [[UKIP]]<ref>Hope, Christopher. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/14/exclusive-donald-trumps-new-chief-strategist-steve-bannon-will-c/ "Exclusive: Donald Trump's new chief strategist Steve Bannon 'will call Nigel Farage before Theresa May'"], ''Telegraph'' (11/15/16 at 3:07pm).</ref> and the [[Front National]].<ref>Usborne, David, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/breitbart-donald-trump-expansion-marion-marechal-le-pen-front-national-fn-national-front-a7419521.html "Plans by far-right news website to launch in France thrills nationalist party of Le Pen"], ''Independent'' (11/15/16 at 6:32 PM BST).</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-tide-of-history-is-with-us-steve-bannon-delivers-rhetoric-filled-speech-to-frances-national-front/2018/03/10/4f21e016-2480-11e8-946c-9420060cb7bd_story.html 'Let them call you racists': Steve Bannon delivers fighting speech to France’s National Front] by James McAuley (March 10, 2018 at 4:01 PM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> [[Putin]] gets a pass because he <strike>has kompromat on Trump</strike> is a strong "traditionalist"/"nationalist".

So what is a traditionalist? Bannon doesn't tell us much about it, but he tells us which thinkers promote it. Specifically, he attributes it to two people: 

{{quotebox|When Vladimir Putin, when you really look at some of the underpinnings of some of his beliefs today, a lot of those come from what I call Eurasianism; he’s got an adviser who harkens back to [[Julius Evola]] and different writers of the early 20th century who are really the supporters of what’s called the traditionalist movement, which really eventually metastasized into Italian [[fascism]]. A lot of people that are traditionalists are attracted to that.<ref name="feder" />}}

He doesn't mention the other by name. Still, he references one of Putin's advisors who is a proponent of "Eurasianism", which narrows things down to [[Aleksandr Dugin]]—who has also been profiled by Breitbart. Both of those men are prominent fascist thinkers. So, in other words, Bannon says the U.S. needs to consider adopting the ideology put forward by Evola/Dugin and that the movement they inspired (and their influence on Putin) is one positive thing happening in Russia right now. That's as much of an admission of sympathy for fascism as you'll get from a Beltway insider.

Shapiro also name-dropped {{wpl|Robert Mercer (businessman)|Robert Mercer}}<ref name="shapiro" /> because you can't discuss Planet Breitbart without covering the Mercers. Robert M. is a tech guru with some [[Vulgar libertarianism|wingnutty libertarian]] views and is also Trump's biggest financier. The Mercers backed [[Ted Cruz]] until he lost momentum and realized Trump was a better vehicle.<ref>Kutner, Max, [http://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/02/robert-mercer-trump-donor-bannon-pac-523366.html "Meet Robert Mercer, the Mysterious Billionaire Benefactor of Breitbart"], ''Newsweek'' (11/21/16 at 9:59 AM).</ref> The difference between the two is that the Mercers only care about power (akin to [[Plutocracy|plutocratic]] [[Russia]]),<ref>Gray, Rosie, [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/no-one-knows-what-the-powerful-mercers-really-want/514529/ "What Does the Billionaire Family Backing Donald Trump Really Want?"], ''Atlantic'' 1.27.17.</ref> while Bannon is on some holy crusade. If Trump had lost the nomination, the Mercers would have shifted their allegiances, whereas Breitbart would not have been as kind—even during the general election.<ref>Swan, Jonathan, [http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/292028-how-breitbart-turned-on-ted-cruz "How Breitbart turned on Ted Cruz"], ''The Hill'' (08/19/16 04:08 PM EDT).</ref>

===Cambridge Analytica===
{{main|Cambridge Analytica}}
The Mercers with Bannon founded Cambridge Analytica in 2013.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-cambridge-analytica-broke-into-the-us-political-market-through-mercer-allied-conservative-groups/2018/03/23/141adba8-2ead-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html How Cambridge Analytica broke into the U.S. political market through Mercer-allied conservative groups] by Michelle Ye Hee Lee & Craig Timberg (March 23, 2018, at 7:50 PM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Cambridge Analytica is a big data company that allowed Trump to overperform in the Rust Belt and influenced [[Brexit]]'s success. Guess who sits on the board of Cambridge?<ref>Hannes Grassegger and Mikael Krogerus, [https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/how-our-likes-helped-trump-win "The Data That Turned the World Upside Down"], ''Motherboard'' via ''Vice'' (1/28/17 at 6:15am).</ref> That and [[Breitbart]] are among the tools at his disposal to nurture a return to [[nationalism]] in various countries.<ref>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pold15c8H70</ref>

In 2018, Cambridge Analytica was alleged to have committed illegal acts before and during the [[2016 U.S. presidential election|2016 Presidential election campaign]], including with [[Facebook]] data.<ref>[https://www.channel4.com/news/cambridge-analytica-revealed-trumps-election-consultants-filmed-saying-they-use-bribes-and-sex-workers-to-entrap-politicians-investigation Revealed: Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians] (19 Mar 2018) ''Channel 4''.</ref> Cambridge Analytica is also associated with Frontier Services Group (whose CEO is [[Erik Prince]]<ref>[http://www.fsgroup.com/en/team.html Our Team] Frontier Services Group</ref>), which provides security to [[Chinese]] businesses in [[Africa]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-latest-cambridge-analytica-links-to-blackwater-founder/2018/03/21/255bd508-2cf9-11e8-8dc9-3b51e028b845_story.html The Latest: Cambridge Analytica links to Blackwater founder] (March 21 at 7:15 AM) ''Associated Press'' via ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

===White House strategist===
[[File:Trump speaking with Putin oval office.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Trump speaking to [[Trump-Russia connection|his boss]] on the phone while Bannon looks on]]
{{cquote|[[Delusions of grandeur| I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors.]]|||Bannon, forgetting that Cromwell was beheaded for his incompetence.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bannon-explained-his-worldview-well-before-it-became-official-us-policy/2017/01/31/2f4102ac-e7ca-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html 'Why even let 'em in?' Understanding Bannon's worldview and the policies that follow] by Frances Stead Sellers & David A. Fahrenthold (January 31, 2017) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}

{{cquote|I can tell you that [[Karl Rove]] was never in any meeting in the situation room.|||Former Attorney General [[Alberto Gonzales]]<ref>[http://www.npr.org/2017/01/29/512336557/former-attorney-general-calls-vetting-immigrants-a-delicate-process "Former Attorney General Calls Vetting Immigrants A 'Delicate Process'"], [[NPR]] (1/29/17 at 7:41 PM ET).</ref>}}

In 2016, he became the CEO of Trump's presidential campaign. On November 13, he was appointed as the President's chief strategist.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-pick-republican-party-chair-priebus-chief/story?id=43491108 Trump Names Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff, Steve Bannon as Senior Adviser], ABC News, Nov 13, 2016</ref>

In the early days, Trump and Bannon were ticking off the signs of Putinism like it's a to-do list. The war on media and [[truth]] was probably the most blatant aspect of this,<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/21/media/sean-spicer-press-secretary-statement/ "Alt-fact: Trump's White House threatens war on media over 'unfair attacks'".] ''Haaretz''. Reuters. January 22, 2017.</ref> something Bannon was quite proud of:<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-09/has-anyone-seen-the-president Has Anyone Seen the President?] by Michael Lewis (February 9, 2018 at 2:00 AM PST; Corrected February 21, 2018 at 2:31 PM PST) ''Bloomberg''.</ref>
{{cquote|The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to [[flood the zone with shit]].}}

It wasn't just [[CNN]] that was banned from the White House; it was a sizable chunk of the press pool.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39085235 White House bans certain news media from briefing] (25 February 2017) ''BBC''.</ref> (While Breitbart and the ''[[Washington Times|Moonie Times]]'' got in.) Meanwhile, a man who wanted to tear down the world order of the last 150 years was continuously handed more power in the administration.<ref>Everett, Burgess, [https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2017/02/03/tossing-out-rule-book-poses-risks-for-national-security/lR47iaMHeAo3S3fuGhPe7K/story.html "McCain blasts Bannon placement on National Security Council"], Politico (01/29/17 11:52 AM EST).</ref><ref>Danner, Chas, [http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/report-bannon-had-to-be-reminded-he-wasnt-the-president.html "Bannon Had to Be Reminded He Wasn’t President"], ''Independent'' (February 4, 2017 3:26 p.m.).</ref><ref>Wemple, Erik, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/02/06/does-stephen-bannon-text-paul-ryan/ "Does Stephen Bannon text Paul Ryan?"], WaPo (2/6/17 at 6:12 PM).</ref><ref name=doh>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-steve-bannon-nsc-national-security-council-order-a7565191.html "Donald Trump 'didn't realise he promoted Steve Bannon to National Security Council when he signed order'"] by Andrew Buncombe (2/7/17 at 2:22 PM GMT) ''Independent''.</ref> Trump was sealed up in a [[Echo chamber|bubble]] by those he trusted;<ref>Bryan, Bob, [http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-called-mike-flynn-about-us-dollar-at-3-am-2017-2 "Trump reportedly called his national security adviser at 3 a.m. to ask if the US wanted a strong or weak dollar"], ''Business Insider'' 2.8.17.</ref> this is how [[Dick Cheney|Cheney]] and [[Donald Rumsfeld|Rumsfeld]] got Bush on board for the [[Iraq War]].<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-news-daily-brandon-darby-bob-price-november-27-2015#t=5:28 Breitbart News Daily with Brandon Darby & Bob Price], 11.27.15.</ref>

====Stopped clock?====
Being a self-proclaimed [[populism|populist]] with anti-establishment views, Bannon pushed for a 44% marginal tax rate on the highest earners in the country,<ref>Grim, Ryan, [https://theintercept.com/2017/07/26/steve-bannon-pushing-for-44-percent-marginal-tax-rate-on-the-very-rich/ "Steve Bannon is pushing for 44 percent marginal tax rate on the very rich"], ''Intercept'' (26 July 2017, 3:25 p.m.)</ref> presumably in a roundabout attempt to run to the left of Obama. He also broke rank by openly opposing possible military action in [[North Korea]],<ref>http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/08/17/steve_bannon_rules_out_a_military_option_in_north_korea_and_contradicts.html</ref> but his resignation left the future of the Land of the Morning Calm uncertain. He also called out the bullshit the DNC pulled on [[Bernie Sanders]] in an interview with Bill Maher.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUOY8wY60W4</ref>

====Downfall====
[[File:SD National Security Council with POTUS and VPOTUS 170720-D-SV709-007.jpg|thumb|right|250px|2017 National Security Council with fly-on-the-wall Bannon next to closed door]]
The focus on Trump's "both sides" comment by the press missed what was happening.<ref>Stanage, Niall, [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400188-exclusive-bannon-blasts-con-artist-kochs-lame-duck-ryan-diminished "Exclusive: Bannon blasts 'con artist' Kochs, 'lame duck' Ryan, 'diminished' Kelly"], ''The Hill'' (8 August 2018, 6:00 AM EDT).</ref> Trump was probably only dimly aware of what was happening if even that.<ref>McLaughlin, Kelly, [https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-regrets-charlottesville-both-sides-speech-bob-woodward-says-2018-9 "Trump has reportedly said that his speech after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was the 'biggest f---ing mistake' he's made"], ''Business Insider'' (4 September Sep. 4, 2018, 1:06 PM).</ref> But Bannon was appointed as a "strategist" to wrangle the Neo-Nazis into going out and stirring the pot. This is an old tactic by right-wing governments. People don't remember that Milo Yiannopoulos, working directly under Bannon, was having private meetings with Richard Spencer before the election. He'd give a speech in a liberal college town, the left would show up, and then the Nazi gangs would get bused in to crack some skulls.<ref>Bauer, Shane, [https://www.motherjones.com/media/2017/08/what-the-media-got-wrong-about-last-weekends-protests-in-berkeley/ "What the Media Got Wrong About Last Weekend’s Protests in Berkeley"], ''Mother Jones'' 29 August 2017.</ref> It all blew up in Charlottesville, though, with the murder of a woman; Bannon was sacked a few days later.<ref>Woodhouse, Leighton Akio, [https://theintercept.com/2017/09/21/gavin-mcinnes-alt-right-proud-boys-richard-spencer-charlottesville/ "After Charlottesville, the American far right is tearing itself apart"], ''Intercept'' (21 September 2017, 1:26 p.m.)</ref> Those [[8chan]] guys have no idea what to do except channel that energy into the mosque and synagogue shootings.<ref>Caroline Bankoff and Jen Kirby, [http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/01/6-killed-in-attack-on-quebec-mosque.html "27-Year-Old ‘Right-Wing Troll’ Charged With Murder in Quebec City Mosque Shooting".] ''NY Mag''. January 30, 2017.</ref><ref>Campbell Robertson, Christopher Mele and Sabrina Tavernise, [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html "11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts"], NYT 27 October 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/zealand-mosques-attack-suspect-praised-trump-manifesto-190315100143150.html "New Zealand mosque attacks suspect praised Trump in manifesto"], Aljazeera (16 March 2019).</ref>

And in the end, the Trump clan did what they always have done: behead their servants like celebratory bottles of champagne. Trump was annoyed by Bannon and friends pulling a fast one on him, placing Steve on the Security Council via an Executive Order Trump signed without reading.<ref name=doh/><ref>[https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/828575949268606977 Trump insists he calls the shots]</ref> Also, Bannon's at loggerheads with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner is pushing the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] economic policy Bannon pretends to despise, thus ingratiating him with the Washington crowd to the exclusion of Bannon.<ref>Suebsaeng, Awsawin, [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/06/steve-bannon-calls-jared-kushner-a-cuck-and-globalist-behind-his-back.html "Steve Bannon Calls Jared Kushner a ‘Cuck’ and ‘Globalist’ Behind His Back"], Daily Beast (4/06/17 at 9:44 AM ET).</ref> The kid learned at the knees of Charles Kushner, a guy so ruthless in destroying anyone who opposed him that he once had a prostitute seduce his brother-in-law, got it on tape, and sent the video to his sister.<ref>Mansernus, Laura, [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/nyregion/major-donor-admits-hiring-prostitute-to-smear-witness.html?_r=0 "Major Donor Admits Hiring Prostitute to Smear Witness"], [[NYT]] 8/19/14.</ref> What a shocker that a day drunk racist got played.<ref>Darcy, Oliver, [http://www.businessinsider.com/breitbart-jared-kushner-coverage-steve-bannon-2017-4 "Breitbart editors tell staffers to stop writing stories critical of Jared Kushner, sources say"], Business Insider (4/10/17 at 12:40 PM).</ref><ref>Blake, Aaron, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/11/trump-just-made-some-very-strange-comments-about-stephen-k-bannon/ "Trump just made some very strange comments about Stephen Bannon"], WaPo (4/11/17 at 10:13 PM).</ref>

On January 3, 2018, President Trump cut all ties with Bannon, stating, "Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-bannon.html ''Trump Breaks With Bannon, Saying He Has ‘Lost His Mind’''] --NYT, 3 Jan 2018, by Eileen Sullivan et al.</ref> This was in response to Bannon being quoted in a forthcoming book, ''[[Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House]]'', regarding Trump's election campaign {{wpl|Trump campaign–Russian meetings|meeting with agents of the Russian government in Trump Tower.}} The meeting included Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and [[Paul Manafort]]:
{{quotebox|The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers. They didn't have any lawyers. Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/03/donald-trump-russia-steve-bannon-michael-wolff Trump Tower meeting with Russians 'treasonous', Bannon says in explosive book] by David Smith (Jan 2018 11.32 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref><ref>''Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House'' by Michael Wolff (2018) Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 1250158060.</ref>}}

As is his style, President Trump branded Bannon with the nickname "Sloppy Steve" on his way out the door. This was presumably a reference to Bannon's disheveled looks.<ref>https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367724-trump-attacks-book-author-as-loser-and-sloppy-steve-bannon-as-crier</ref> Some Trump supporters expressed disappointment that "Stinky Steve" or "Skunky Steve" were not officially chosen.

With Bannon's removal from the NSC,<ref>Robert Costa and Abby Phillip, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/04/05/steven-bannon-no-longer-a-member-of-national-security-council/ "Steven Bannon no longer a member of the National Security Council"], WaPo April 5, 2017.</ref> an effort was underway to shuffle him off to some [[Heritage Foundation|fat-salaried think tank glue factory.]]<ref>Henderson, Barney, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/08/donald-trump-considering-sacking-steve-bannon-reince-priebus/ "Donald Trump 'considering sacking Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus' as simmering West Wing feud engulfs White House"], ''Telegraph'' 8 April 2017.</ref><ref>Wegmann, Philip, [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/will-steve-bannon-take-over-heritage-after-jim-demint-leaves-mike-needham-wont-say/article/2621712 "Will Steve Bannon take over Heritage after Jim DeMint leaves? Mike Needham won't say"], ''Washington Examiner'' (30 April 2017, 12:29 PM).</ref>

==European gap year==
{{cquote|I think shares in Bannon are overvalued. This idea that he’s going to become this pan-national Dr Evil figure producing this big radical right alignment ... there are some big barriers to entry. Influence in the US doesn’t really translate to influence in Europe.|||Robert Ford, University of Manchester<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/29/farage-bannon-populists-eu-election Farage: Bannon plan could help populists to EU election victory], The Guardian, 29 July 2018</ref>}}

In 2018 he headed off to Europe, hoping to unite all of Europe's far-right parties into one populist and anti-[[European Union]] organization centered around a foundation called "The Movement", which he planned to set up in Brussels, Belgium. The Movement would provide support and possibly money to right-wing populist parties throughout the EU, in the same way he imagined [[George Soros]] controlled Europe's left.<ref name=guardianbannonplaneurope>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/21/steve-bannon-plans-foundation-to-fuel-far-right-in-europe Steve Bannon plans foundation to fuel far right in Europe], The Guardian, 21 July 2018</ref> To fulfill this scheme, he met with members of several parties: 
* Mischaël Modrikamen of [[Belgium]]'s People's Party, the only politician who accepted his proposal and joined The Movement.<ref name=guardianbannonundermined/>
* Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (formerly Vlaams Blok), also of Belgium.<ref name=guardiansecretrightwinggathering>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/secret-rightwing-gathering-europe-steve-bannon The Mayfair dinner that brought Europe's far right together], The Guardian, 21 Nov 2018</ref>
* [[Nigel Farage]] of [[UKIP]] in the UK.<ref name=guardiansecretrightwinggathering/> Like Farage, his attacks on big business are highly suspect since Bannon got rich by working in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department of Goldman Sachs.<ref>[http://fortune.com/2016/08/17/donald-trump-bannon-mnuchin-goldman/ Another Goldman Sachs Alum Joins Donald Trump’s Campaign] by Dan Primack (Updated: Aug 17, 2016, 5:43 PM PDT) ''Fortune''.</ref> Rob Ford of the University of Manchester said Bannon and Farage had a lot in common: "They have an exaggerated sense of how many people actually bought into their core agenda."<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/steve-bannon-nigel-farage/550640/ The Rise and Fall of Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage], Yasmeen Serhan The Atlantic, Jan 2018</ref>
* Jérôme Rivière of France's National Rally (formerly [[Front National]]).<ref name=guardiansecretrightwinggathering/>
* Kent Ekeroth, associated with [[Sweden Democrats]], although in trouble with them for being a bit violent.<ref name=guardiansecretrightwinggathering/>
* [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]] of the [[UK Conservative Party]] met Bannon in December 2017.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/01/jacob-rees-mogg-held-meeting-with-steve-bannon-in-london Jacob Rees-Mogg met Steve Bannon to discuss US-UK politics], The Guardian, 1 Dec 2017</ref> Later Rees-Mogg and Bannon denied that they wanted to be involved with each other, making it hard to know who was genuinely opposed to working with the other and who was sulking.<ref>[https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-bannon/jacob-rees-mogg-distances-himself-from-steve-bannon-idUKKCN1LZ1O0 Jacob Rees-Mogg distances himself from Steve Bannon], Reuters, 19 Sep 2018</ref>
* [[Boris Johnson]], also of the UK Conservatives, met Bannon in July 2018.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/09/boris-johnson-sex-life-steve-bannon-tory-leadership-bid Ignore Boris Johnson’s sex life. His flirtation with Steve Bannon is the real worry], Matthew d'Ancona, The Guardian, 9 Sep 2018</ref>

Sadly (for him and arguably nobody else), his scheme ran into several problems. Firstly, most European countries have electoral laws governing political parties' operations with bans on foreign funding (it's easy to understand how a former Trump aide would miss this). This meant most parties were legally unable to accept his support.<ref name=guardianbannonundermined>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/steve-bannons-rightwing-europe-operation-undermined-by-election-laws Steve Bannon's far-right Europe operation undermined by election laws], The Guardian, 21 Nov 2018</ref> Also, some nationalists didn't like foreign interference, including reportedly Marine Le Pen of the French National Rally.<ref name=guardiansecretrightwinggathering/>

==Book club==
{{Main|Argument from authority}}

{{cquote|It's war. It's war. Every day, we put up: [[Politics of fear|America's at war, America's at war. We're at war]]. Note to self, beloved commander in chief: We're at war.|||Bannon<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/breitbart/breitbart-breitbart-news-daily-katie-gorka-december-4-2015 Breitbart News Daily with Katie Gorka], 12.4.15.</ref>}}

His [[apocalyptic]] [[worldview]] has been partly influenced by his interpretation of the [[pseudoscientific]] book ''The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy'' by [[William Strauss and Neil Howe]].<ref>Howe, Neil, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/where-did-steve-bannon-get-his-worldview-from-my-book/2017/02/24/16937f38-f84a-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html "Where did Steve Bannon get his worldview? From my book."], WaPo 2.24.17.</ref>

Since 2015, Bannon has repeatedly referenced the [[dystopian]] French novel {{wpl|The Camp of the Saints||,}} which has been accurately described as "shockingly racist".<ref>Blumenthal, Paul. Rieger, JM. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-camp-of-the-saints-immigration_us_58b75206e4b0284854b3dc03 This Stunningly Racist French Novel Is How Steve Bannon Explains The World]. ''[[Huffington Post]]''. 03/04/2017</ref>

==Great Walls of Fraud==

In 2018, an ultra-right-wing military veteran named {{wpl|Brian Kolfage}} started (in lieu of the {{wpl|2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown}}, which in part occurred over disputes over funding for [[Great Wall of America|Trump's planned "wall" with the United States-Mexico border]]) a crowdfunding campaign on {{wpl|GoFundMe}} to raise money to give to the government some of the wall funding.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/20/crowdfunding-border-wall/2373628002/ "A GoFundMe campaign wants to raise money for a border wall. But it isn't that simple"] by Jessica Estepa and Christal Hayes, USA Today, 2018 Dec 20</ref> Kolfage assured supporters that the fundraiser [[bullshit|"is not a scam"]]<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/as-trump-holds-out-for-border-wall-funding-from-congress-gofundme-raises-over-3-million-in-3-days.html "As Trump holds out for border wall funding from Congress, GoFundMe raises nearly $5 million in 3 days"] by Carmin Chappell, CNBC, 2018 December 20</ref> (even though Kolfage had run some questionably {{wpl|Spamming|spammy}} right-wing conspiratorial ad farms on [[Facebook]] in the past).<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/founder-viral-fundraiser-trump-s-border-wall-has-fake-news-n950636 "Founder of viral fundraiser for Trump's border wall has questionable news past"] by Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 2018 December 20</ref><ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/guy-behind-gofundme-account-trumps-border-wall-used-facebook-page-network-connected-fake "The guy behind the GoFundMe account for Trump’s border wall used a Facebook page network connected to fake news sites to boost his campaign"] by Natalie Martinez, Media Matters, 2018 December 20</ref> In February 2019, the campaign switched focus away from GoFundMe and directed all attention to a new nonprofit group called ''{{wpl|We Build The Wall}}''<ref>[https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2019/02/06/border-wall-gofundme-organizer-says-bannon-kobach-support-his-plans/2789347002/ "Border wall GoFundMe organizer says Steve Bannon, Kris Kobach now supporting his plans"] by Alexis Egeland, The Republic, 2019 Feb 6</ref><ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/gofundme-border-wall-campaign-implodes-turns-to-kris-kobach-and-sheriff-clarke-for-new-non-profit "GoFundMe Border Wall Campaign Implodes, Turns to Kris Kobach and Sheriff Clarke"] by Lachian Markay and Will Sommer, Daily Beast, 2019 Jan 11</ref> Bannon was brought in to chair the advisory board;<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/private-group-steve-bannon-build-border-wall-millions-gofundme-2019-5 "A private group chaired by Steve Bannon has started to build its own border wall after receiving millions from GoFundMe"] by Nicole Einbinder, Business Insider, 2019 May 26</ref> other anti-immigrant hard-liners closely associated with Trump, such as [[Tea Party movement|Kris Kobach]], [[Tom Tancredo]], and {{wpl|Jared Kushner}} also got involved in the organization.<ref name="pwallint">[https://theintercept.com/2019/05/31/private-border-wall/ "Vigilantes helped Steve Bannon's group with Private Border Wall Near El Paso"] by Debbie Nathan, The Intercept, 2019 May 31</ref> 

In the middle of 2019, a parcel of land near El Paso, Texas, was chosen for the initial construction of the wall (with the help of a right-wing militia group called the {{wpl|United Constitutional Patriots}}, a group that the [[ACLU]] described as a "racist and armed" "fascist militia organization" whose activities include illegally detaining migrants entering the United States,<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-constitutional-patriots-detain-migrants_n_5cb9664ee4b06605e3ed3778 "ACLU Condemns ‘Vigilantes’ Who Are Allegedly Detaining Migrants On The Border"] by Andrew Hay, Huffington Post, 2019 April 19</ref> and a landowner sympathetic to their cause).<ref name="pwallint"></ref><ref>[https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/we-build-the-wall-united-constitutional-patriots-steve-bannon-larry-hopkins-11278460 "A Militia Scorned: We Build the Wall's Broken Love Affair With New Mexico Vigilantes"] by Beau Hodai, Phoenix New Times, 2019 May 1</ref> By 2020, a small section of the wall was completed, despite clashes with the {{wpl|International Boundary and Water Commission}} over failure to get permits, cutting off access to waterways and a public monument, and building a gate for the wall on federal land without authorization.<ref name="buzzcrime">[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/we-build-the-wall-investigation-florida "The Group That Built A Privately Funded Border Wall Is Under Criminal Investigation"] by Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News, 2019 August 7</ref> From some accounts, the construction was completed too hastily. It was poorly designed, so questions were raised over potential flooding. There was concern that erosion could eventually lead to the wall falling into the {{wpl|Rio Grande}}.<ref>[https://www.propublica.org/article/he-built-a-privately-funded-border-wall-its-already-at-risk-of-falling-down-if-not-fixed "He Built a Privately Funded Border Wall. It’s Already at Risk of Falling Down if Not Fixed."] by Jeremy Schwartz and Perla Trevizo, ProPublica, 2020 July 2</ref><ref>[https://www.newsherald.com/news/20200110/construction-to-resume-saturday-on-privately-funded-us-mexico-border-wall "Construction to resume Saturday on privately funded U.S.-Mexico border wall"] by Jim Thompson, Panama City News Herald, 2020 Jan 10</ref>

It turns out that building the wall may not have been the entire purpose of the nonprofit. On August 20, 2020, Bannon, Kolfage, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration {{wpl|Timothy Shea}} (a person previously notable for, as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, helping to get charges against [[Michael Flynn]] dropped and getting [[Roger Stone]]'s sentence reduced),<ref>[https://dcist.com/story/20/05/18/timothy-shea-is-getting-replaced-as-d-c-s-top-federal-prosecutor-after-rocky-short-tenure/ "Timothy Shea Is Getting Replaced As D.C.’s Top Federal Prosecutor After Rocky, Short Tenure"] by Matt Blitz, DCIst, 2020 May 18</ref> and financier Andrew Badolato were charged with fraud by federal authorities; Bannon was arrested that day in Connecticut. The charge accused Bannon of funneling more than one million dollars from ''We Build the Wall'' through an unnamed nonprofit organization, some of which was used for personal expenses. Kolfage was also charged for funneling $350,000 in donations for personal use.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/nyregion/steve-bannon-indicted.html "Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in ‘We Build the Wall’ Campaign"] by Alan Feuer and William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, 2020 August 20</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands "Leaders Of ‘We Build The Wall’ Online Fundraising Campaign Charged With Defrauding Hundreds Of Thousands Of Donors"], Press Release, US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, 2020 August 20</ref><ref>[https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-charged-fraud-199c43c1-2e75-4535-8eb0-d96558c9f777.html "Steve Bannon arrested and charged with fraud"] by Shane Savitsky, Axios, 2020 August 20</ref>

Naturally, [[Donald Trump]] couldn't just sit there and let a fellow loyal grifter actually get ''punished'' for his misdeeds. So, on January 20, 2021, only hours before Trump departed the White House, Trump granted a full presidential pardon to Bannon, perhaps as a protective measure to maintain his loyalty.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/steve-bannon-pardoned-by-trump/index.html "Trump pardons Steve Bannon as one of his final acts in office"] By Pamela Brown, Paul LeBlanc and Kaitlan Collins, CNN, 2021 January 20</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/nyregion/steve-bannon-pardon-trump.html "Trump’s Pardon of Bannon Could Raise Risk for 3 Co-Defendants"] by Benjamin Weiser, New York Times, 2021 Jan 26</ref> The others weren't so fortunate; having pleaded guilty to some of the charges on April 21 2022, on April 26 2023, Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months in prison, and Badolato was sentenced to 36 months in prison. Shea, meanwhile, was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice on October 28 2022.<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/statement-us-attorney-damian-williams-conviction-timothy-shea "Statement Of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams On The Conviction Of Timothy Shea"], Department of Justice, US attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, 2022 October 28</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-sentenced-prison-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-fraud-scheme "Two Sentenced To Prison For ‘We Build The Wall’ Online Fundraising Fraud Scheme"], Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, 2023 April 26</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/united-states-v-kolfage-et-al "United States v. Kolfage, et al."], United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York</ref> As presidential pardons only cover federal charges, Trump's pardon didn't stop the state of [[New York]] from launching their own indictment against Bannon in September 2022, alleging money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62841761 "Steve Bannon charged with fraud over border wall fundraiser"] by Sam Cabral, BBC News, 2022 September 8</ref>

In 2025, Bannon pleaded guilty to "one count of scheme to defraud, a low-level felony" in relation to his diverting funds from the "We Build the Wall" scheme.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2025/02/12/g-s1-48347/steve-bannon-pleads-guilty-border-fraud Trump ally Steve Bannon pleads guilty and avoids jail time in border wall fraud case] (February 12, 202512:11 AM ET) ''Associated Press'' via ''NPR''.</ref>

==Spreading COVID-19 and 2020 election misinformation==

Despite the legal troubles, Bannon still had enough followers to listen to him. So Bannon continued to post right-wing [[bullshit]] on social media under the program title ''Steve Bannon's War Room''. This eventually got Bannon into trouble when, in one War Room episode in November 2020, he called for pandemic expert {{wpl|Anthony Fauci}} and [[FBI]] director {{wpl|Christopher A. Wray}} to not only be fired but to be beheaded and put their "heads on pikes" just like the "old times of Tudor England". The blatant advocacy for violence was enough for Bannon to get permanently booted from [[Twitter]], get the offending episode removed from [[Youtube]], lose the service he was using to mail newsletters ({{wpl|Mailchimp}}), ''and'', to top it off, lose the legal counsel that was defending him against these fraud charges.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/06/steve-bannon-lawyers-seek-to-withdraw-after-fauci-beheading-comment.html "Steve Bannon lawyers want off his criminal case after ex-Trump advisor discussed Fauci beheading"] by Dan Mangan, CNBC, 2020 November 6</ref><ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/05/steve-bannons-show-pulled-off-twitter-and-youtube-over-calls-for-violence/ "Steve Bannon’s show pulled off Twitter and YouTube over calls for violence"] by Devin Coldewey, Techcrunch, 2020 November 5</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/05/tech/steve-bannon-twitter-permanent-suspension/index.html "Twitter permanently suspends Steve Bannon account after talk of beheading"] By Curt Devine, Donie O'Sullivan and Kara Scannell, CNN, 2020 November 6</ref> Additionally, [[YouTube]] banned Bannon's "War Room" program on January 8, after [[Rudy Giuliani]] appeared on the program two days after the [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot]], and falsely blamed the riot (whose participants were, in reality, largely those in the [[alt-right]] or [[MAGA]] social sphere) on [[Democrats]].<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-bans-steve-bannon-war-room-podcast-rudy-giuliani-comments-2021-1 "YouTube bans Steve Bannon's podcast channel hours after Rudy Giuliani appeared on an episode and blamed the Capitol siege on Democrats"] by Joshua Zitser, Business Insider, 2021 January 9</ref> Bannon also confirmed that he was involved in planning the rally immediately preceding the January 6 [[coup]] attempt.<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-confirms-his-involvement-january-6-insurrection-war-room-podcast-1631667 Steve Bannon Confirms His Involvement in January 6 Insurrection on 'War Room' Podcast] by Andre J. Ellington On 9/22/21 at 2:47 PM EDT) ''Newsweek''.</ref>

Although the bans significantly reduced the spread of misinformation,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/06/youtube-video-ban-metric/ "YouTube says it’s getting better at taking down videos that break its rules. They still number in the millions."] by Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post,2021 April 6</ref> Bannon continued to babble [[bullshit]] on his podcast, which was still listed on platforms run by [[Apple]] and [[Google]], and appeared on an obscure cable and streaming media outlet called "Real America's Voice".<ref>[https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/here-are-platforms-still-streaming-steve-bannons-podcast "Here are the platforms still streaming Steve Bannon’s podcast"] by Justin Horowitz, Media Matters, 2021 January 26</ref><ref>[https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/3/30/2023521/-Who-would-allow-a-host-who-made-death-threats-to-keep-his-show-Real-America-s-Voice-apparently "Who would allow a host who made death threats to keep his show? Real America's Voice, apparently"] by Darrell Lucus, Daily Kos, 2021 March 30</ref> In 2021 Bannon's focus increasingly shifted to supporting [[Donald Trump]]'s [[2020_U.S._presidential_election#Fraud_Claims|bullshit "election fraud" claims]], with his show underwritten by fellow election fraud bullshitter [[Mike Lindell]].<ref name="bannonlies">[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-lindell-steve-bannon-election-lies_n_60636ff1c5b6d34efbc613e2 "Former Trump White House Aide Steve Bannon Still Airs MyPillow Guy’s Election Lies"] by S.V. Date, Huffington Post, 2021 March 30</ref> Bannon was happy to host guests like Lindell and Giuliani, giving them a platform to repeat their baseless fraud allegations (and even wackier [[bullshit]], such as a strange allegation from Giuliani that the [[Lincoln Project]] helped participants in the [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot]]). This transpired despite pending libel lawsuits by voting machine manufacturers {{wpl|Dominion Voting Systems}} and {{wpl|Smartmatic}} against the two.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/bannon-scolds-giuliani-after-he-links-lincoln-project-capitol-riots-2021-1 "Steve Bannon scolds Rudy Giuliani after he falsely claimed the Republican Lincoln Project helped Capitol rioters"] by Sophia Ankel, Insider, 2021 Jan 30</ref><ref name="bannonlies"/> Bannon also continued to push [[bullshit]] advice on [[COVID-19]], featuring guests such as [[Marjorie Taylor Greene]] pushing bizarre [[anti-vaccination]] or anti-[[face mask]] musings.<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2021/04/02/marjorie-taylor-greene-pushes-to-fire-fauci-ban-vaccine-passports-visits-trump/ "Marjorie Taylor Greene pushes to "Fire Fauci," ban "vaccine passports"; visits Trump"] by Zachary Petrizzo, Salon, 2021 April 2</ref> 

Unsurprisingly, Bannon also took a page from the playbook of right-wing hucksters ranging from [[Jim Bakker]] to [[Infowars]] and started hawking his own brand of [[bullshit]] [[supplements]] on his show using the name "Wellness Warrior".<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/steve-bannon-wellness-warrior/ "Steve Bannon: Wellness Warrior?"] by Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones, 2021 March 20</ref> A collection of zinc and [[Vitamin D]]<sub>3</sub> called the "War Room Defense Pack" was [[Marketing|marketed]] by Bannon as "[[bullshit|the ultimate defense against sickness]]".<ref>[https://archive.ph/xHEwL "The War Room Defense Pack",] www.warroomdefense.com, archived on archive.ph on 2021 April 19</ref>{{efn|Perhaps as a sign of the slapdash nature of the supplement promotion, the main picture advertising the "War Room Defense Pack" on Bannon's main pandemic site couldn't even correctly spell the URL of the supplements store.<ref>[https://archive.ph/ij1BJ "Steve Bannon's War Room: Pandemic",] archived on 2021 April 20</ref>}} On April 15, 2021, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Wellness Warrior, alleging that they were violating the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act by marketing these simple [[vitamin]]s as a treatment for [[COVID-19]] that was more effective than vaccination.<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-ftc-announce-action-stop-deceptive-marketing-purported-covid-19 "Justice Department and FTC Announce Action to Stop Deceptive Marketing of Purported COVID-19 Treatments"], Department of Justice, press release, 2021 April 15</ref><ref>[https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/statutes/covid-19-consumer-protection-act-2021-consolidated-appropriations-act "COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act of the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act"], Pub. L. No. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182, Division FF, Title XIV, § 1401, archived at FTC.GOV</ref>

==Jeffrey Epstein==
{{main|Jeffrey Epstein}}
Bannon, while not directly known to be implicated in the Epstein [[Sex trafficking|sex-trafficking]] scandal, filmed 15 hours of interviews with Epstein as recently as 2019, just before Epstein's second and final arrest.<ref name=kiefer/> Prior to the filming, starting in June 2018, he and Epstein exchanged hundreds of emails regarding how to rehabilitate his image and how to protect Epstein from further legal problems. At one point, Bannon seemed to think that renewed interested in Epstein's crimes was part of a conspiracy (a "sophisticated op").<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/15/steve-bannon-jeffrey-epstein-text-messages-publicity Steve Bannon advised Jeffrey Epstein for years on how to rehab his reputation, texts show. Pair devised responses to public outrage about Epstein’s criminal history, his treatment by the justice system and his friendships with powerful people] by Jason Wilson (15 Nov 2025 06.00 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> The footage was at least initially intended to be a [[PR]] rehabilitation of Epstein. Bannon has so far refused to release his own footage of Epstein or to even say whether he still has access to it.<ref name=kiefer>[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/jeffrey-epstein-steve-bannon-1236325072/ Steve Bannon’s Secret Epstein Videos: The Tale of the Tapes: He says it’s a documentary. But the 15 hours of footage Bannon shot with Jeffrey Epstein were reportedly training for a '60 Minutes'-style redemption tour that never happened — and paid for by Epstein himself.] by Peter Kiefer (July 22, 2025 6:05am) ''The Hollywood Reporter''.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/steve-bannon-books-reading-list-214745 What Steve Bannon Wants You to Read] — He's like the Rain Man of nationalism.
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/opinion/sunday/steve-bannon-hip-hop-shakespeare-rewrite-coriolanus.html Behold, Steve Bannon’s Hip-Hop Shakespeare Rewrite] {{onion}}
*[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4Ot2TrWAAQCo9W.jpg:large Checkmate, liberals!]<sup>''[Still not [[The Onion]]]''</sup>
*[https://www.foiaresearch.net/person/steve-bannon Steve Bannon] (02/02/2019 - 13:46) ''FOIA Research''
*[https://youtu.be/UPkUrVj0VPc Doccumentary on Steve Bannon's life up to 2017 from Frontline.]

==See also==
*[[Grover Norquist]] &mdash; Grover is also an admirer of Lenin.
*[[Dinesh D'Souza]] &mdash; The best piece of Dinesh trivia is how he made sure the [[KKK]] uniforms were '''research-perfect''' in his janky movie about how Dems are the real party of racism.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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