Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's first interview after he left the Trump administration did not disappoint. In his interview with CBS' '60 Minutes,' Bannon touched upon a variety of topics including the much-discussed 'trade war' with China and the state of the Republican establishment. Bannon's interview will definitely be dissected quite exhaustively over the next few days.
War on Republicans
Despite his ouster from the White House, Bannon is still close to President Donald Trump and during his interview, he accused certain Republicans of actively trying to undermine the result of the 2016 presidential election. He accused Mitch McConnell and Paul D. Ryan of being the ring leaders of the campaign. The primary reason for his displeasure at the Senate Majority Leader McConnell and House Speaker Ryan was their failure to repeal Obamacare earlier this year. Bannon, who has returned as the chairman of his media organization Breitbart, also stated that he will use the right wing news site to wage war on Republicans who are at odds with Donald Trump's vision.
Bannon went on to state that it is important to ensure that those rogue Republicans are 'put on notice' so that they are on the same page as the president. He also said that, at this point in time, there is no accountability for failing to do that. He insisted that they should be held accountable for their actions. He did not spare people inside the Trump administrations either and said that some of them were responsible for leaks from inside the White House during the turbulent days of the Charlottesville violence.
The China question
Steve Bannon has also been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump's aggressive stance regarding China's trade policies and, in that regard, he remained consistent with his hardline views.
He also said that the US is not the aggressor in this so-called trade war. He said, “Donald Trump, for 30 years, has singled out China as the biggest single problem we have on the world stage. The elites in this country have got us in a situation. We’re at not economic war with China; China is at economic war with us.”
On the issue of Donald Trump's controversial move to end DACA and remove the protections offered by the program, Bannon did not seem too enthused. He stated that such a move could, in the end, result in the Republicans losing the House when the 2018 elections come along.