Steve Bannon is working his magic from afar in the Wisconsin Senate race, provoking a fight among the Republican candidates there just after they signed a unity pledge with their state party. The pledge signed by state Sen. Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson required the loser of the primary to support the winner in their challenge to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and required them to be “respectful” of other Republicans. But then ...
Vukmir called on Nicholson to disavow his endorsement from former White House strategist Steve Bannon because of comments attributed to Bannon in a new book. According to excerpts of Michael Wolff’s book released Wednesday, Bannon said he thought President Donald Trump’s son’s contact with a Russian lawyer during the campaign was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
Vukmir’s campaign manager, Jess Ward, called Bannon’s comments a “vicious attack” against the president and his family. She also called for Nicholson to reject Bannon.
Nicholson spokesman Brandon Moody said it was “disappointing” Vukmir would attack Nicholson so soon after signing the unity pledge for an endorsement that she “aggressively sought.”
Nicholson has been endorsed by the Club for Growth and a John Bolton-affiliated Super PAC as well as by Bannon. So Vukmir, lacking those endorsements, saw Bannon’s juicy comments about Trump as a chance to claim the mantle of Trumpism, and bye bye went the spirit if not the letter of the unity pledge.
Boy, it sure will be interesting to see how long Bannon retains the sway to provoke such fights (and, potentially, a broader Republican civil war).
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