Former Trump White House aide Steve Bannon was discussing what he termed the “civil war between the Republican establishment and MAGA” over the weekend when he declared that the “movement” will go on “long after” Donald Trump.
Bannon appeared on Sunday’s edition of Showtime’s docuseries The Circus, hosted by liberal journalist John Heilemann and Never-Trumper Tim Miller, when he predicted that MAGA will get stronger even if Trump loses to a Democrat in 2024 — assuming the former president is the eventual Republican presidential nominee.
“And in there, you have a litmus test, ok? And one of the litmus tests — it’s not just President Trump, but also particularly the stealing of the 2020 election. That’s the fundamental tenet of this movement,” said Bannon.
Bannon slays the Circus pic.twitter.com/nnJCmlDJT6
— Anita Williams (@AnitaLouisW) November 13, 2023
“By the way, they’ve made it all about Trump,” he continued. “This movement is ascendant and is going to go on long after Donald Trump and is already getting more powerful and broader. Even if a Democrat was to win, there’s no compromise here.”
Heilemann chimed in to clarify, “What you’re saying is, even if Trump lost to Biden there’s no going back to the old Republican Party?”
“No — further right than Trump. President Trump is a moderate in our movement. You are going to pine in future years that you wished Donald Trump was around,” Bannon replied.
Critics often debate just how “right-wing” Trump is, though many of the policies he pursued while in office were more conservative than recent Republican predecessors. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his chief rival in the GOP primary, has hit Trump repeatedly for the debt he racked up suggesting the former president is not fiscally responsible.
As for the “stealing of the 2020 election,” polling has shown that most Republicans believe the election was manipulated, beginning with Democrats exploiting the pandemic to alter election laws, flooding the playing field with unsolicited mail-in ballots and allowing ballot harvesting. However, evidence proving outright theft on a scale that could have altered the outcome of the election remains elusive.
How strong MAGA proves to be after 2024 remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt Trump’s supporters are very confident:
Truer words have not been spoken about the political future.
Trump is as moderate as we’ll go after 2024.— Albert Latham (@albert1776) November 13, 2023
Damn right
— One Bad Dude (@Dorf73256527) November 13, 2023
I completely agree with this assessment. Also, people are completely ignorant about what’s going on. Indoctrination for the win.
— eve (@eveforamerica) November 13, 2023
He’s a deal maker and was always ready to be pragmatic but Hillary pulled the rip cord the minute she lost in 2016 with the “RESIST” movement that has and is gutting our country.
— UnipartyBomber (@magajcs) November 13, 2023
Kudos to Mr. Bannon, for what I know is that Trump is there already
— Justice Dibie (@justice_dibie) November 13, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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