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
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