Now that Steve Bannon has seen the money and influence taps turned off and he’s thrown back on only the millions that he scammed while at Goldman Sachs, he’s decided that a slightly more conciliatory tone toward Donald Trump is in order. It seems that even Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, didn’t understand the extent to which the Republican Party had ceased to be about ideas—even his crazy white nationalist ideas—and simply become a vehicle for Trump worship.
So he’s been trying to roll back some of those statements he made for Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury. Including the statements about Donald Trump Jr. being “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
Bannon sought to make amends Sunday, saying in statement his description wasn’t aimed at Trump’s son but at former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
It seems more than a bit of a strain to believe that Bannon intended to bypass the guy who organized and planned the Trump Tower meeting and pin the blame on one of the guys who joined him in the office. Among those who find this hard to believe is the guy to whom Bannon made these comments.
But Wolff told MSNBC: “it was not directed at Manafort, it was directed directly at Don. Jr.”
But Bannon wasn’t done demonstrating his willingness to squirm backward as he issued what has to be the most embarrassing statement of the entire political season, one where Steve Bannon praises Trump Jr. and Trump Sr. and demonstrates conclusively that he’s gone in for that new Republican surgical fad: the spine-ectomy.
I never expected to feel sorry for Steve Bannon, but … wait. I still don’t feel sorry for Steve Bannon.
“I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the president’s historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency,” Bannon said in the statement, which was first obtained by the news site Axios.
The inaccurate reporting would be in writing down exactly what Steve Bannon said. But then … you can never trust that guy.
Bannon’s attempt to appease the forces arrayed against him and demonstrate his willingness to knee-walk over broken glass to get released from third-grade nickname hell is best characterized as “sad.” And also hilarious.
While Bannon was begging to be let back into Trump’s “good” graces, a small army of surrogates was on the road attacking Wolff, common sense, the concept of competence, and American copyright law.
On Sunday, two days after the book’s release, WikiLeaks tweeted a link to an electronic image of the text. Posting the text of a book without permission would violate copyright restrictions and potentially damage sales. Yet, hours after WikiLeaks tweeted the link, “Fire and Fury” remained No. 1 on Amazon’s lists of hardcover and ebook bestsellers.
At least Trump is still getting loyalty from Assange. And his boss.