In a few short years, Steve Bannon went from being an architect of Donald Trump’s political success to being busted by the feds.
In just a few short years, Steve Bannon went from being the most dangerous man in American politics to being in federal custody.
The onetime champion of America’s forgotten man and an architect of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Bannon was arrested Thursday morning, reportedly aboard a Chinese billionaire’s yacht.
His indictment — on charges involving an alleged internet fundraising scam for helping build Trump’s southern border wall — marks an era that has catapulted a series of unlikely figures to the highest reaches of politics, only to see them suffer spectacular falls.
In Bannon’s case, an itinerant entrepreneur with a mixed record in media and finance charged into the center of a turbulent presidential campaign and emerged as the White House chief strategist. Later, he was even rumored to be eyeing his own presidential run.
Instead, he has followed others from the president’s inner circle into serious legal jeopardy. The 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates; Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn; his longtime political mentor Roger Stone; and his former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen — all have been convicted of federal crimes since Trump took office.
“My first reaction when I heard the news was that this was inevitable,” said Kurt Bardella, who worked under Bannon as a spokesman for the far-right Breitbart News. “For someone who traffics in greed and divisiveness and is part of a group of people who just have no regard for the law, this is the predictable outcome.”
A spokeswoman for Bannon, Alexandra Preate, did not respond to requests for comment.
A self-described propagandist, Bannon has cited the German filmmaker and Nazi sympathizer Leni Riefenstahl as an inspiration, and has generally portrayed himself as a revolutionary. “I’m a Leninist,” he reportedly told a new acquaintance at a party in 2013. “I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
Bannon’s devil-may-care attitude may have brought about his own destruction instead.
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Steve Bannon's indictment marks an era that has catapulted a series of unlikely figures to the highest reaches of politics, only to see them suffer spectacular falls https://t.co/x0kHQuds0d
— POLITICO (@politico) August 21, 2020
I’ve never forgiven Bannon for turning a once respectable, conservative news outlet into something akin to the National Enquirer. The man is a snake. I know — innocent until proven guilty — but I am hoping he falls and falls hard. He deserves to be in prison for a long time, maybe for the rest of his life.
This is one more reason to prevent Trump from getting another term in the White House. If Trump is no longer president and Bannon is convicted, there won’t be a presidential pardon or commutation.
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