Steve Bannon, in his first extensive interview since he left the White House last month, hinted at a looming war not with the opposing Democratic Party, but within the GOP itself.
“The Republican establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election,” Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who helped lead Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, told CBS News’ Charlie Rose in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday. “[Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell, and to a degree, [House Speaker] Paul Ryan. They do not want Donald Trump’s populist, economic nationalist agenda to be implemented. It’s very obvious. It’s very obvious what they are trying to do.”
Bannon went on to assert that such Republican leaders don’t support the President’s “program,” nor do they want to “drain the swamp” because it has been a “successful business model” based on donors and lobbyists, for some 50 years. He also expressed dismay that in the immediate aftermath of the election win, they chose to “embrace the establishment.” – READ MORE