5 Craziest Takeaways From Steve Bannon’s Zany Interview About White Nationalists, McCain, the ‘Elites’

Steve Bannon gave a wide-ranging interview to The Daily Beast, and it was a doozy.

The former White House adviser and ex-Breitbart chief has been in the news this week after the New Yorker originally tapped him to be a headliner for their annual festival. The magazine eventually pulled their invite amid considerable backlash. Bannon, in response, trashed New Yorker editor David Remnick for what he deemed “gutless” caving to “the howling mob.”

Bannon ended up talking about the New Yorker episode and many other topics with Daily Beast reporter Marlow Stern — in advance of the upcoming Errol Morris documentary about Bannon’s life in politics.

It’s difficult narrowing this conversation down to five abridged highlights, but…here you go.

1. – Bannon Believes Trump and His Cabinet Are ‘Self-Made,’ Not ‘Elites’ Despite Phenomenal Wealth

We might as well start by addressing the little detail that this interview took place in a five-star hotel in which Bannon was staying where rooms cost $1,400 a night. Anyway, Bannon explained that Trump is definitely not a member of the elite, even though the president grew up in one of the best areas in New York City, inherited lots of money from his father, and owns some of the most expensive, luxurious property in the world.

MS: Trump is an “elite” though, right?

SB: No, he’s not at all. He’s… he’s definitely a populist. Always been an outsider.

MS: But he’s a billionaire with a superrich father. The guy inherited tens of millions—maybe more—from his father.

SB: But that doesn’t… it’s not… he’s a guy from Queens.

MS: Have you seen his penthouse apartment in Manhattan? The thing is solid gold, overlooks Central Park, and is worth over $100 million.

SB: Many times.

MS: You don’t think that constitutes “elite”? It’s one of the nicest apartments in Manhattan. It’s a $100 million, three-story, solid-gold penthouse.

SB: It’s a nice crib. But “elite” is not just about wealth, it’s about mind-set. Trump connects with working-class people and lower-middle-class people.

Bannon used similar reasoning to argue that Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao are also “self-made” even though they, like Trump, came from big money families.

#2 – Bannon Derisively Calls John McCain’s Funeral the ‘High Holy Days’

When asked about the media event surrounding John McCain‘s funeral, Bannon called the spectacle the “High Holy Days” of the “permanent political class.” Bannon stated his belief that McCain should have invited Trump to his funeral as president of the United States.

Bannon went on to say McCain was a hero, but he also believes Trump was under no obligation publicly apologize for his dismissive comments about the senator’s ordeal in Vietnam.

#3 – Bannon Has No Regrets About Promoting Milo Yiannopoulos

Bannon said he had no regrets about propelling Milo Yiannopoulos to stardom despite his fraternizing with white supremacists and the defense of pedophilia that cost him his job at Breitbart. Bannon said Yiannopoulos had his best days when they were working together, though the latter “needed to be controlled.”

#4 – Bannon Dismisses the Idea That Breitbart Has a Large White Nationalist Following as “Total Nonsense and Bullshit”

The discussion on Milo led to a discussion about Bannon’s alleged anti-Semitism, and his promotion of ultra-nationalists in Europe. This, in turn, segued towards Breitbart’s resonance with white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

MS: Breitbart has cultivated such a large neo-Nazi, white nationalist following.

SB: What do you mean white nationalists, neo-Nazis? That’s just a flat-out lie. That’s bullshit.

MS: I’ll go into the comments section of Breitbart and I’ll see all kinds of crazy anti-Semitic shit.

SB: No, because the comments section—that’s called freedom of speech. That’s why. And by the way, when I left it was the most-commented section of anything in the world. Breitbart, by the way, is a middle-class and working-class site.

MS: So you don’t think it’s cultivated a large white nationalist following?

SB: That’s complete, total nonsense and bullshit. When I left, it had 25 or 30 million unique visitors a month. That’s just flat-out Daily Beast bullshit.

#5 – Bannon Says He Hasn’t Read Fire & Fury

Political observers may remember that Bannon fell out of grace in Trump-world after giving on the record statements to Michael Wolff, who incorporated his disparaging comments about the president’s family into his tell-all: Fire & Fury. But Bannon, amazingly, denied having even read the book which played such a crucial role in his falling out with the president.

There are plenty more juicy nuggets in the full Daily Beast report — which we encourage you to check out here.

[Image via screengrab]

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