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He’s the populist bomb thrower who once had a top job in Donald Trump’s White House. This Week on Firing Line
Bannon: It’s time to take on the elites in this country. Take the torch to them.
They were so close that President Trump created a new role for Steve Bannon: White House chief strategist
Bannon: Every day in the oval office, he tells Reince and I, // I promised when I ran, and I’m going to deliver on this.
Bannon helped shape the administration’s hardline immigration policies.
NAT: “Let them out!”
But the relationship soured and Bannon left the Trump Administration after eight months
Trump: Sloppy Steve is now looking for a job.
He’s still on the outside, but back defending the president
Bannon: Donald Trump is not only I think a great leader as a president, he’s an amazing campaigner.
With the first votes cast in the 2020 election, what does Steve Bannon say now?
‘Firing Line with Margaret Hoover’ is made possible by the Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation. Robert Graneiri through the Vanguard Donor Advised Fund. the David Tepper Charitable Foundation Inc. Additional funding is provided by. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.
HOOVER: Steve Bannon, welcome to Firing Line.
BANNON: Thanks for having me.
HOOVER: You were the former chief strategist in the Trump White House.
BANNON: Yes.
HOOVER: You had been the executive chairman of Breitbart News. You have served in the Navy, worked on Wall Street, worked in Hollywood. And now you host a podcast called War Room where you comment on news of the day. And this week is the presidential contest in 2020 and I’d like to start there.
BANNON: Okay.
HOOVER: As you look at the Democratic field, is there anybody, in your view, who can beat Donald Trump?
BANNON: Here’s what– I think we’re entering a very difficult and dangerous time in American history. I think you’re seeing the rise of the oligarchs. I think Michael Bloomberg — it’s Bloomberg versus Trump. Now, it will either be Bloomberg as the nominee or Bloomberg doing the leveraged buyout of the Democratic Party using an instrument. That instrument may be Bernie Sanders. It may be Mayor Pete. It may be Klobuchar. It may be Hillary Clinton.
HOOVER: Why are you discounting Bernie Sanders? He just —
BANNON: No, no, no. Bernie Sanders, may be — Here’s my point. Michael Bloomberg’s billions, his organization, his capital, his data systems, okay, are the thing that’s going to oppose Trump. But I think whether it’s Bernie- He’s already said last week if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination he will back him with two billion dollars of capital. It could be Mayor Pete. It could be Klobuchar. I think it will be Hillary Clinton at the end of the day, will be the candidate. But Bloomberg–
HOOVER: You think Hillary Clinton’s going to get in the race late —
BANNON: Because —
HOOVER: And run against Donald Trump again.
BANNON: Bloomberg’s about, on March 3rd you’re about to have something never happened in America.
HOOVER: Is that what you think though? When you say Hillary Clinton you think Hillary Clinton can still get in?
BANNON: I think it’s either going to be Bloomberg or Hillary Clinton coming to save the Democratic Party.
HOOVER: So back to my original question, is there anyone in the Democratic field that can beat Donald Trump?
BANNON: With Michael Bloomberg’s billions of capital- remember this is a difference in scale we’ve never seen before. We have only eight months to go. So he’s, he’s doing something on a scale- They’re going to commit 200 million dollars on Super Tuesday.
HOOVER: I just want to push back on that on just this premise. Because you were part of Trump’s campaign.
BANNON: Yeah.
HOOVER: Trump’s campaign was dwarfed in spending by Hillary Clinton.
BANNON: Yeah, yeah.
HOOVER: So there is no recent evidence of money winning the day in politics. Why are you so convinced that —
BANNON: This is different. It’s not money. Here, Margaret, here’s the reason. Bloomberg is going to apply that capital with eight months to go. OK? In a way that’s never seen before. Principally by ground game and data and turning out the vote. That’s why the 2020, 2020 is going to be the nastiest election in American history. And I include 1860 in that. It’s going to be a nasty, brutal, block-by-block–
HOOVER: So it sounds like you think that President Trump is vulnerable?
BANNON: President Trump is going to win. But President Trump- Every day is going to be a struggle. Just for the simple reason that no one’s ever, no one’s ever had an oligarch that opposed the sitting president. This is going to be a populist versus an oligarch.
HOOVER: Can I just challenge the oligarch metaphor for a sec.
BANNON: Sure.
HOOVER: I mean, we look around the world and there are a lot of people who’ve made their money because they’ve been in bed with the cronyism of a government that has enriched them. Michael Bloomberg is a capitalist that has made his money not because the United States of America or any leader of a government has decided that he deserves to have billions of dollars.
BANNON: That’s true.
HOOVER: He earned it himself. Is it fair to call him an oligarch?
BANNON: Yes, absolutely.
HOOVER: Why?
BANNON: Because now, look, we’ve had wealthy people throughout history. He’s buying the Democratic Party.
HOOVER: Is Trump an oligarch?
BANNON: No, Trump’s, Trump’s a real estate developer and a TV personality. He’s a wealthy guy, he’s worth, what, seven or eight billion dollars? That’s not an oligarch.
HOOVER: Did Michael Bloomberg come by his billions honestly in your view?
BANNON: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. All his money came about honestly. Michael Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg is not a corrupt guy.
HOOVER: And do you think that the Democratic Party is really for sale?
BANNON It’s 100% for sale.
HOOVER: So you and I both know this is going to be a turnout election.
BANNON: Yes.
HOOVER: Those progressive activists on the left who support Bernie Sanders, who despise some of the policies the Bloomberg administration, aren’t going to come out, they’re not going to turn out if Bloomberg is the candidate, or if Bloomberg’s behind the candidate.
BANNON: Margaret Hoover, you have nailed what I think is going to be the single most important issue in the fall of this year. I happen to think- it played in 16. Those Bernie supporters who were turned off by Hillary Clinton. Michael Moore always makes this comparison in Michigan. I think there was 90 thousand ballots down ballot voted Democrat that left, that left it blank and they were both African-Americans that just had a bellyful of the Clintons, that they couldn’t vote for Trump, but they wouldn’t vote for her. And also Bernie people. I think one of the key elements of this, if Bernie doesn’t get the nomination and I don’t, I think right now he will not get the nomination, is that if they bring in a centrist in with Bloomberg or Bloomberg himself, I think 10 to 15 percent of the Bernie of the Bernie populists, those real populists will say, who are not really that progressive maybe on social policies, but are progressive or are really nationalist and really populist, will either stay home or support President Trump. And I think that could be the key to victory in November.
HOOVER: Do you think it’s interesting or do you think it’s newsworthy that the first openly gay candidate for president is leading the field out of the first two states, Iowa and New Hampshire?
BANNON: I just don’t think that matters anymore. I think people, I think we’re in a time that people, even with Trump, some of Trump’s, some of the stuff Trump did. If we go back 20, 30 or 40 years ago, you know, people have been shocked maybe by someone’s behavior. I think people today in an increasing —
HOOVER: So you think a gay man could be elected president?
BANNON: Oh, there’s no doubt. Absolutely. I think Mayor Pete, the whole question about Mayor Pete- And look, I admire him. I’m a naval officer. He’s a naval officer. He volunteered to go into a combat zone. I think the big hit on him is that- is about his experience. And I think he’s a little vacuous. But it’s not about it’s not about his sexual preference.
HOOVER: Trump had an experience deficit as well when it came to politics. And most of the commentariat coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire discounted Trump, even though he did very well in both of those states, won New Hampshire. Is the commentariat underestimating Mayor Pete?
BANNON: I don’t think they’re underestimating Mayor Pete. Here’s I think the shocking thing, and why they haven’t done their job. Their hatred of Trump has so obsessed him. I think they’ve disrespected Bernie’s voters. That’s what I keep telling Bernie voters. Deplorables don’t disrespect you. We admire you. OK? And if you get disrespected by the Democratic Party, you have a home in the Trump movement. We may not agree on everything, but we’re populist. You’re — We’re right wing populist, you’re left wing populist. We understand there’s a difference in the way we come about solutions, but we’re kindred spirits. And so you may not love everything about Trump, but I got to tell you one thing. President Trump will not disrespect you. I am stunned in the Democratic Party, the disrespect. And Margaret, this is so important. If they do come out in 2020 with 10 or 15 percent of the Bernie people in working class- African-Americans and blacks, or African-Americans and Hispanics, Trump will have done a political revolution like FDR. This’ll be like 1932. He’s turned the Republican Party into a worker based party. And you know, how country club the Republican Party got, how controlled by Wall Street. Trump has turned that over in three years, which is stunning. And now we’re actually speaking to working class people about what their aspirations are and how Trump’s policies are helping them.
HOOVER: So that’s that’s the goal. I mean, for you, for the economic nationalist that supports Trump, the goal is for the Republican Party to be the party of the working person, the working American.
BANNON: The backbone of the United States, the backbone of the United States of America has always been working class and middle class people. What we have to do is have a party that understands their needs than particularly understands the ability of wages. I come from an Irish Catholic family. My mom was a housewife. We had five kids. My dad was basically a foreman at the phone company, eventually got a lower white collar job for 50 years. He supported five kids going to Catholic school with a housewife who was a mother —
HOOVER: Because you could do that in the 60’s and the 70s.
BANNON: No, but you could know you can do it today. You can do it today.
HOOVER: You can’t now.
BANNON: Yes, you can.
HOOVER: That’s why you can’t. Look, President Trump touted in the State of the Union the increase in factories. But the truth is, while there are more factories, there are less factory jobs, because of automation, because of the modern economy.
BANNON: No. Margaret, you look at all these like it’s a, the second law of thermodynamics. OK. It’s not. It’s human action that made this. Human action can bring those jobs back. Tariffs, protectionism. The American system that built this country in the 19th century by people like Hamilton and Lincoln, OK, that were nationalists, that had protectionism- And I’m a protectionist. I believe you have to have a strong manufacturing base and working class people, middle class people of every gender and race and sexual preference. If we deliver for working class people and middle class people, we’ll have a thriving, robust economy. And I got to tell you, there’s going to come a point in time that the family unit that I was so blessed to come up with, with a mother that could stay at home with her five kids and a father who could work a blue collar job as a foreman and pay for Catholic school. That day is ahead of us all. That’s all policy.
HOOVER: You’re saying women want to go back to staying at home and raising kids. And men go back to the factories and working.
BANNON: If she so chooses. We ought to have that opportunity. One of the problems we have with family formation is that these economic policies has really let the world unfairly compete. Remember, here’s the thing with millennials. They’re like 19th century Russian serfs. They’re in better shape. They have more information. They’re better dressed. But they don’t own anything. Five thousand years of the Judeo-Christian west was built around the family, built around you save your money, you’re a good householder. We’ve shattered that. Millennials don’t have a chance. They’re 20 percent behind their parents at the same point in life and in income and they have no assets.
HOOVER: But that is about the economy that is not about the family unit. And that’s what you’re arguing for —
BANNON: No, you are wrong. No, no.
HOOVER: — is an economy that is back where, that is, that is nostalgic and backward looking. Why wouldn’t, but why wouldn’t the economic nationalist — No, but Steve just help me out here. Hear me out.
BANNON: Margaret, Margaret, Margaret, Margaret, no. It’s not nostalgic. It’s not nostalgic.
HOOVER: Why not? Excuse me, let me just say this really quick. Why wouldn’t the economic nationalist in you, want to modernize the economy in order to deliver for working people, but not with a backward looking vision of manufacturing as the base.
BANNON: It’s the fourth industrial —
HOOVER: But in a new kind of economy?
BANNON: It is the economy but here’s the thing. It’s a fourth idus- We’re upon a fourth industrial revolution OK.
HOOVER: That’s a lot like Andrew, Andrew Yang.
BANNON: No, no. But that fourth, and Yang, by the way, he speaks to Trump voters big time. OK. And so does Tulsi Gabbard. The fourth industrial revolution should be centered here, OK? Right now it’s going to be centered overseas, it’s going to be centered in China. It should be centered here. You’re saying I’m nostalgic, I want to go back to the 50s like it’s some mediæval period. It’s a golden age, OK?
HOOVER: For white Americans.
BANNON: No, but my point is, no. No, no, I’m not talking about the cultural aspects. I’m talking about the economic aspects. Right now, if we can deliver that for if we can deliver that to African-American and Hispanic workers in particular, this is why I’m a restrictionist. I’m a restrictionist on immigration, and the reason is for those STEM programs in public schools to pay off, we have to make sure that there are jobs available for Hispanics and African-American kids. We need to do that by restricting immigration, particularly on the tech side. I’m for American citizens, whatever their religious preference, their race, their gender, their sexual preference. They get first dibs. That’s what economic nationalism is about. And that’s what we’ve lost in this conversation. So you can go back to the golden age of the 50s, economically. Obviously, culturally you want to be much more advanced as we are today. But it’s to get back to the fact that families, that families can be, can be self sustaining units that can if you want to work, you can work.
HOOVER: Self sustaining economic units, I get it. In the 2018 documentary film, American Dharma, you said this, “You may hate my guts. You may hate what I stand for. But if we don’t allow some way for the system to spread the wealth, we are going to have a revolution in this country. It is coming as night follows day.” Do you still believe that?
BANNON: Absolutely. I think unless we —
HOOVER: So have Trump’s policies helped to abate that revolution.
BANNON: It started because you’ve started to see wages rising. We’re finally starting to see things move in the right direction. It’s far from perfect. Remember-
HOOVER: Who carries on the populist agenda after President Trump?.
BANNON: Oh, I think now you’re starting to see a whole type of populism evolve, hopefully in the Republican Party. I think the whole direction is there. Look, look at Ivanka. Ivanka’s taken her time to focus on women’s empowerment. So I think you’ve seen throughout the administration, I think young politicians are starting to, Nikki Haley, all the everybody is now focused on working class people in the concerns of the middle class and working class. And this is why I think it’s been good. I think our democracy is more advanced.
HOOVER: I smiled. Cause It’s hard to think of Ivanka Trump as a populist.
BANNON: If you look at her actions. Ivanka and I’ve had a lot of fights. OK? But if you look at her actions, she’s talking about women’s empowerment. And so I think if you look at her, you look at other elements of the administration and young politicians coming up. Every young politician understands that they just can’t give the happy talk to Wall Street. They can’t just be a country club Republican. If you want to move forward, particularly on a national level, you have to understand that working class people- and this is the path right now. This contest right now is between the right and the left. You’ve got the Bernie and the Warren faction on the populist left and you have the Trump revolution on the populist right. And that’s what’s really driving American politics right now. I think that’s a healthy thing.
HOOVER: This program was originally hosted by William F. Buckley Jr. from 1966 to 1999 – it aired. Ronald Reagan was a guest on this program and he talked about how he interacted with the media. Let’s take a look.
BUCKLEY: Have we reached the point where there is a sufficient popular frustration with the incapacity of the states to maneuver as a result of all the obstacles thrown in their way by the federal government?
REAGAN: I campaigned on a belief in the people. I called it a creative society. I campaigned on the belief that the people are the best custodian of their own affairs. And I think we’re proving it here in California. And I think some of the people who oppose this theory, who still want government by mystery, they don’t want government by the people. They want to keep alive the illusion that government is so complicated that the people don’t understand it and therefore just accept what government does. And as I say, I oppose this. And the only recourse I’ve had in the few months I’ve been in office is, every once in a while when the issues grow hot, is to go to the people. And I go by way of television – reports to the people.
HOOVER: Is President Trump’s ability to do what Reagan did – go straight to the people – does he use Twitter the way Reagan used television?
BANNON: I think he’s, I think that um – President Trump has used Twitter to disintermediate the basically the mainstream media apparatus and kind of go over their head. I think President Reagan perfected the use of television and kind of that connection to people. I’m not so sure he disintermediated it. There’s a big difference. Trump, I think, looked at a, a radical solution – Twitter. Because President Trump is not a computer guy. I don’t think, for instance, I don’t think he’s ever gone online and seen Brietbart or Drudge, right? He’s not a guy who goes online. But he knows how to tweet and he knows, particularly, how to throw those bombs out there that like the transgender thing-
HOOVER: Does he read Twitter? Does he read his Twitter feed?
BANNON: I think people come and show him the Twitter feed. I think people come in and show him the Twitter feed. I’m not so sure he’s on his phone, reading. I’ve never seen him read the Twitter feed. But I think it’s a way to – the apparatus is so huge today to have to overcome. He really went over their heads and I think he’s been a very – he would not, I think it’d be very tough for him to have run for president and to be president if it was not for Twitter.
HOOVER: He’s thrown a few Twitter bombs at you.
BANNON: Sure. But remember, I come from an Irish Catholic family. Like I said-
HOOVER: I know you don’t care.
BANNON: I’ve been, I’ve been, I’ve been called worse around my dinner table.
HOOVER: What I’m interested, though, is in how his tone has shifted recently. First, you know, he said you were Sloppy Steve who leaked more than the Titanic and that you had very little to do with his historic victory. But then, since you have really come back from Europe, and taken to the airwaves, and really been defending him, he’s tweeted ‘nice to see that one of my best pupils is still a giant Trump fan. Steve joined me after I won the primaries, but I loved working with him.’ So what does this tell ordinary viewers about the president, about the president and what it takes to be on his good side?
BANNON: Well, listen. I think what the president appreciates of anybody, are people that are working to promote his agenda. OK? And I’ve done that from day one.
HOOVER: Or flattering him personally.
BANNON: No, I don’t think he said- Look, if you get to know him, I think it’s very overblown. I think he’s a very pragmatic guy. Remember, he is a very sophisticated deal guy. So he understands people kind of come and schmooze versus people who can really deliver. One of the things I appreciate about the left in the ‘18 election – they realized something the Republican establishment didn’t realize – that he’s transformative and he’s historic. And it’s like a Kafka-esque novel for them. They know he’s going to be between deconstruction of the administrative state and the judges. That he’s going to be in their personal lives 10, 20 and 30 years from now, and they have to get rid of him.
HOOVER: Yeah.
BANNON: And so I think that – and he’s become a transformative figure. You see now that I think he really – what’s happened over the last couple of weeks – he not only understands the power of the office of the presidency. I think he’s now very comfortable in his judgment. President Trump is coming to that part of his presidency that he has confidence in his voice and he has confidence in his decision-making. And I think you’re about to see really the next phase of the Trump presidency starting in the next couple weeks.
HOOVER: I want to switch gears and talk about China. Is their goal, in your view, global hegemony?
BANNON: A hundred percent, there’s no doubt. The Chinese plan is absolutely global hegemony. They’re trying to consolidate the Eurasian landmass now.
HOOVER: Yeah
BANNON: With North Korea with, with Persia, with Turkey and now with a new ally, Russia.
HOOVER: OK. So, now you have this new podcast, War Room Pandemic, where you have spent hours talking about the Coronavirus.
BANNON: This is something we’ve never seen before in human history. What’s happening in Wuhan – and remember – the Chinese people are the most decent-
HOOVER: How did you know? I mean now it has surpassed the deaths that SARS had.
BANNON: I know China.
HOOVER: SARS, of course, was a virus that came out of China as well. From Wuhan as well.
BANNON: I knew something was happening in early January. I know from my relationships and contacts that something – Wuhan is like the Pittsburgh of China. Something was-
HOOVER: But do you feel like talking about it here in the U.S. helps build sympathy towards your worldview and your point of view about China?
BANNON: I think what it does, it highlights the fact that the Chinese people are victims of this totalitarian dictatorship that only cares about itself. What they allowed to happen, to jeopardize the world, what they allowed to happen for the 90 days that they knew this was going on and suppressed it, not caring about the people in Wuhan. We’re going to have horrific casualties. The vaccines not coming for years, OK? The Chinese people are doing – what the Chinese government’s doing is trying to – with social separation – trying to stop it in, in, in Wuhan. Here’s the problem. They covered it up for at least 60 to 90 days. And many brave doctors, the heroes coming out of this, the doctors and nurses that tried to warn people, and then knowing there was a death sentence, went back to those hospitals to care for the sick and died in the process is heart rendering. The CDC and WHO immediately must send the top virus hunters into Wuhan. And we have to find out what the situation is. Doctors and nurses that volunteer that want to go over – the CCP, regardless of what it means to their political legitimacy, have to accept this because the public health systems in central China right now is starting to collapse. They have, they just announced yesterday – five hundred doctors and nurses are now infected with the virus.
HOOVER: Right. I read that. So President Trump says Xi Jinping has this under control. He tweeted, ‘He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counter attack on the Coronavirus.’ And he tweeted, ‘Great discipline is taking place in China as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation.’ Do you agree?
BANNON: This is what- President Trump’s a statesman. That’s what leadership is. You know-
HOOVER: So, so, in other words, you don’t agree with this but Trump is doing this for diplomatic reasons.
BANNON: I think, I think, I think, what President Trump is doing- he’s taken some strong and bold actions here. He’s helped lead the world about taking strong and bold actions, about making sure the United States and Western Europe is separated from this-
HOOVER: So what’s he doing when he’s saying Xi’s got it right?
BANNON: Well, I think with President Xi he’s trying to support – I think the CCP, as they go about the quarantine process. If they don’t get this quarantine down right, the social separation, this thing- Dr. Gabriel Leung, the virus hunter from Hong Kong, said if this is not handled properly in Hubei Province, 60 to 80 percent of the world’s population is gonna get this.
HOOVER: Just explain to me what Trump’s tweet means then if you don’t think-
BANNON: Well, I think, I think he’s supporting the CCP in their efforts to get this under control.
HOOVER: But you disagree that Xi has this under control.
BANNON: This is one of the reasons that it’s better that I’m not in the White House. On the outside, I am a- I pride myself, no, I pride myself-
HOOVER: Is that a yes? You do disagree that Xi has this under control.
BANNON: I pride myself in being one of the leaders of the virulent side of the anti-CCP regime change movement. President Xi is not a good guy. President Trump, though, has-
HOOVER: So he doesn’t have it under control?
BANNON: No, he has to look at a broader context. I think what he’s trying to do is trying to assist President Xi in getting this under control. I would like to hope- I keep telling people this is their biological Chernobyl. I happen to believe that not only did he lie to us consistently about this, I believe like in Chernobyl, they don’t even have their own grip on the entire problem.
HOOVER: All right. Last question. Should Roger Stone be pardoned?
BANNON: First off, the Roger Stone thing- Look, Roger’s a bull**** artist. To prosecute him over that was ridiculous.
HOOVER: You were called in to be part of the prosecution. They subpoenaed you.
BANNON: Because they had the emails. But if you read the emails and text messages, they’re very innocuous. To prosecute a guy and put all those resources on to prosecute a guy. The punishment for General Flynn, these people, and Manafort, and particularly for Roger Stone to me is absurd.
HOOVER: Should Roger be pardoned?
BANNON: That depends on what the president does. Look the one —
HOOVER: Do you think he should pardon him?
BANNON: No, no, but the one thing that they did, they said, look, he lied to us on 20 different counts. I happen to think that Roger Stone should not spend any time in prison. Hopefully the judge will be very evenhanded. And I think the president-
HOOVER: So you don’t think he should be pardoned?
BANNON: Well, no, I think the president is going to- the president I think takes these pardons very seriously. I think you’ll look at Manafort if something unfortunate happens to General Flynn. I think Roger Stone, I think the president will we’ll take a look at these overall and weigh and measure them. He’s not somebody that just kind of snaps and does something and people say oh he’s trying to protect his friends. I think he’s really held back and been very presidential on this. I mean, they’ve been after him for three years. And my whole point is that’s why I think Lindsey Graham needs to hold hearings. We need to get the whistleblower. We need the number two whistleblower. We need Adam Schiff. It’s not for Trump and Trump, says this-
HOOVER: Wait, what are you going to learn from the whistleblower?
BANNON: I think you’re going to learn from the whistleblower, number one. Was he in a National Security Council meeting in early 2016, OK, with members of Joe Biden’s staff and members of Ukraine in the National Security Council? This is part of the stuff that Rudy has. You get all this out there. This is to protect- if AOC is the president in 10 years, this is to protect her. Okay. It’s to protect every president that comes down the road..
HOOVER: You seem to talk a lot about AOC.
BANNON: Well, she’s a she’s a dynamic personality. Look, she went from a bartender and in one year, closing the night shift at a bar, to becoming the third most powerful political person, in the most powerful nation in the history of mankind. That’s–
HOOVER: You think she’s the third most powerful politician in the United States?
BANNON: At one time she was. It was Trump, Pelosi and AOC. Absolutely. AOC’s wing of the party has really forced Pelosi’s hand to impeach Trump. So, yes, I call that power. AOC, by the way, is the power in back of Bernie. Bernie’s surge happened when Bernie came back for jury duty. Remember in Iowa it was AOC’s the rock star. She’s going around, she’s the energy in back of that movement. Bernie is her third term, it just happens to be the first one. Here’s my point. What I’d like, and I want the Republican Party- We’ve got too many lawyers and not enough bartenders. What I want is people that have closed up the shift, have worked for $8.50 an hour and have worked for tips. I don’t like AOC’s policies. I think they’re way off base, OK? What I like is her fire. Here’s the one thing I like. I like the fact she goes home at night and when she cooks, she’s doing Facebook live and giving civics lessons. And she’s got millions of followers because we don’t teach civics in school. They’re getting it from AOC. She’s a fighter. I like it.
HOOVER: Do you think she’s teaching civics correctly?
BANNON: I think she’s teaching civics with her- She’s teaching civics with her angle of attack just like I would teach civics with my angle of attack. So I don’t I don’t begrudge her- I don’t begrudge her her opinions on that. Here’s what I like. I like fighters. I want the Republican Party. I want this populist movement to start to have our own AOCs, people who came from nowhere, who have had to head to live on 16-24,000 dollars a year. Who know at night when you can’t sleep because your parents have got some illness or something like that. Those are the type of people we have to start getting in Congress. And if we start doing that, we’re going to become a real worker’s party and I think it’s going to be a great benefit for the country.
HOOVER: Steve Bannon, thanks for coming to Firing Line.
BANNON: Thanks for having me on this historic show. Thanks.
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