Steve Bannon Vows to Go After Every Republican Except Ted Cruz
“McConnell and Corker and that entire clique; establishment globalist clique on Capitol Hill have to go”
Former White House advisor Steve Bannon has declared war on Republican incumbents save one — Ted Cruz.
Joining Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday night, Bannon called Republican Sen. Corker’s “hot mike” interview with the New York Times “unacceptable.”
Corker, who is retiring at the end of his term, expressed his displeasure with Trump saying he sometimes feels as though Trump is “on a reality show of some kind” when it comes to foreign policy issues. “He doesn’t realize that we could be headed towards World War 3 with the kind of comments that he’s making and it’s like it’s an act to him,” Corker continued.
“McConnell and Corker and that entire clique; establishment globalist clique on Capitol Hill have to go,” Bannon said, “it’s an absolute disgrace.”
Bannon contends Republicans are the reason Trump’s policy agenda is perpetually stalled on Capitol Hill. To remedy what he sees as a lack of support for Trump, Bannon is working with several coalition partners to throw their full weight behind Republican primary opponents for these Republicans standing in Trump’s way.
From The Independent:
The former White House chief strategist said that he’s prepared to go after anybody who does not faithfully fight for Donald Trump’s agenda. Noting that Mr Trump was able to win states in the 2016 election that have eluded Republican presidential candidates in recent history, Mr Bannon said that the Trump agenda is a winner.
“There’s a basic agenda that Trump ran on and won. He carried states Republicans haven’t carried in living memory — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. This agenda works. The American people voted for it,” Mr Bannon said.
“By the way, [Mitch] McConnel would not be majority leader unless Trump — in North Carolina and Missouri and Wisconsin — was able to carry those senators across the finish line. IT’s incumbent upon them to back President Trump’s plan, but you don’t see it,” Mr Bannon said.
In the interview with Hannity, Bannon referenced the recent Alabama Senate Primary as one in which the Republican establishment poured their hearts only to lose, but failed to mention the candidate Trump endorsed lost. As we’ve blogged before, attempting to nationalize the Alabama Senate Primary race is ill-advised as it’s not a viable microcosm for the rest of the country.
Upon leaving the White House, Bannon promised to fight for Trump’s agenda, though his move back to Breitbart News begs the question: is it all for clicks?
Attempts by insurgent groups to unseat well-entrenched Republicans have failed several times over (see efforts to unseat Sen. Hatch, for instance and pretty much everyone running as a Tea Party candidate in 2012 except for Cruz) as the alternate candidates were sloppy, ill-prepared, and often looked foolish on the national stage compared to their seasoned counterparts.
Bannon may be declaring war, but he faces an uphill battle if his sincere hope is success.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Rand Paul, too?
Rand Paul has perfected the art of claiming that anything that is ever proposed isn’t good enough or pure enough for him, so he will vote down everything that is ever proposed by Trump.
So he’s just Chuckie Schumer with a more complicated, self glorifying excuse.
I hope so! Rand Paul is a nutter.
I’m glad Paul voted against the “repeal and replace”.
I believe we’re getting something much better as a result.
I’m re-evaluating Paul against the GOPe.
If you believe that “nothing at all” is the same thing as “something better”, then Rand Paul is your guy.
In 2017…
““He doesn’t realize that we could be headed towards World War 3 with the kind of comments that he’s making and it’s like it’s an act to him” — Bib Corker
I imagine it went something like this back in 1938..
“Churchill doesn’t realize that we could be headed towards World War 2 with the kind of comments that he’s making and it’s like it’s an act to him” — Neville Chamberlain
in fact you are exactly right – Churchill warned about the rise of Hitler all through the 30’s, and Churchill’s enemies said constantly that he was just a warmonger who didn’t care about dead English soldiers. And that’s why they thought it was just fine to sit there and watch Hitler build his armies and do nothing at all about it.
Churchill said many times that the greatest tragedy of WW2 was that it could have been so easily avoided. One minor action in 1936, which he was screaming for, and Hitler would have been gone with about 40 deaths, not 40 million.
We could do worse than a fresh start.
Kemberlee, I wish you would stop using that CBS Photoshop of Bannon – the one with the red lips and bloodshot eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkF9Ab8wblM
Why would he go after Sen. Mike Lee? He is not a RINO, and has stood for Conservative principles at every turn during his service.
Also, Sen. Tim Scott is a solid Conservative. He is not as strong as Cruz and Lee, but he is principled.
Bannon is a nut, that’s my opinion.
I love Mike Lee and Tim Scott, both are solid conservatives. The thing, though, is that neither of them is up for reelection in 2018. Bannon is talking about 2018, and Cruz is the only actual conservative up for reelection next year.
Correct.
Cruz’ Heritage Action Scorecard rating (which is the organization I like to use, and trust) gives Cruz a 94% rating.
The next highest Senator is Jeff Flake at 67%, and he’s a well-known RINO! All the other GOPers drop off quickly after that, with a lot of them in the 40% to 50% range, and Orrin Hatch WAAAAAY down at the bottom with 33%!
With the exception of Cruz, this is a platoon of McConnell drones. Primary all of them.
I hope he has a lot of success. I was very disappointed my state did not remove mighty John Wayne “a REAL conservative, just like you” McCornyn in 2014. We’ll be trying again in 2020.
-Normally I’m not a Bannon fan. I’ve heard he’s a real ass. But in this case, I’m glad he’s onboard since I didn’t see anybody stepping up to the plate to primary the GOPe in several states. With Bannon coordinating the effort, at least there will be one option.
-“As we’ve blogged before, attempting to nationalize the Alabama Senate Primary race is ill-advised as it’s not a viable microcosm for the rest of the country.”
While not every race is the same as AL, there are several that are similar, like AZ and MS. It’s also possible that AL was the beginning of a trend and the GOP establishment just doesn’t want you to believe it is.
-“Attempts by insurgent groups to unseat well-entrenched Republicans have failed several times over…”
Those efforts weren’t coordinated with people to vet the candidates, because there was no organized opposition. The Tea Party’s strength of no leadership was also sometimes a weakness.
OF COURSE you’ve heard Bannon is an ass. Duh.
If you haven’t already done so, watch his entire interview with Charlie Rose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9FqepcRUM
If I have it right, our Sen. Burr is not running for re-election next year. We’ve got a good lieutenant governor who might be a suitable candidate rather than the OB/GYN who’s run a couple of times and lost. And for the future, Thom Tillis is no prize, either.
Thank God.
Good for Bannon.
This is what’s been needed for several decades — a concerted effort to break the power of the Republican leadership. The small group of corrupt morons who control the party’s organization and money, sell government to their contributors, use the money to put their puppets in office, and (when in the majority) control Congress.
What their voters want, the president wants, or the country needs, is ignored if it conflicts with their agenda. Only what they want, or their donors have bought, moves through Congress. Removing enough of the party-owned flunkies in primary elections can break this control, and force congressmen and senators to represent their voters if they expect to be re-elected. The party organization needs to be permanently damaged and weakened until it isn’t worth buying, if the public is to have any influence over government — they’re in business for themselves, not us.
I’ve been very happy with the direction of the country for the past 10 months. I still often wonder what would America look like if Cruz had been president though. Perhaps he is most useful as a thorn in the side to the Senate GOP.
I would like to see Cruz on the Supreme Court.