There was much Steve Bannon and Charlie Rose discussed on CBS' 60 Minutes last night, but there were also such glaring journalistic omissions committed by Mr. Rose, it made the whole effort almost seem moot.
Yes, Bannon did call Trump's firing of Comey a bad mistake that led to the creation of Bob Mueller's special counsel.
He's a hard line white nationalist who believes DACA beneficiaries should self-deport with no path to citizenship, ever.
Bannon claims the Catholic Church supports DACA because they need "illegal aliens" to keep then afloat...
... and that the Russia investigation is a nothing burger.
And he said Chris Christie lost a cabinet position because he didn't show enough loyalty during the pu**y grabbing video. Apparently getting Trump's MacDonald's wasn't good enough.
Charlie Pierce breaks it down in Esquire:
How in the world could Rose have this guy on and not even mention the Mercers, the wingnut billionaire power couple without whose bankroll Bannon would be just another Alex Jones hawking brain pills and chemtrail remover? How could he let Bannon, who made his pile at Goldman Sachs and then made another pile in Hollywood, use the phrase “limousine liberals” without picking up a banana from the fruit bowl and throwing it at him? And how in the name of god could he hear Bannon say this without then picking up the phone and calling his bosses at 60 Minutes and telling them they by god better not send him out to interview anymore of these basket cases without a HazMat suit.
STEVE BANNON: --don't-- don't give me-- this is the thing of the leftists. Charlie, that's beneath you. America's built on our sys-- on our citizens. Look at the 19th century. What built America's called the American system, from Hamilton to Polk to Henry Clay to Lincoln to the Roosevelts. A system of protection of our manufacturing, financial system that lends to manufacturers, OK, and the control of our borders. Economic nationalism is what this country was built on. The American system. Right?
If there’s one thing the 19th century is known for, boy, it’s how we controlled our borders. That’s why all those Irish fleeing the Famine ended up in Madagascar. Yeesh.
Bannon forgets there was this little incident called the Civil War that took place in the 19th century.
Soon after my Italian grandparents followed the Irish, Charlie. Yeesh, indeed.
Let's not forget to mention that Bannon was a hack in Hollywood.
And as Politico reports, Bannon is taking that Mercer money to go out and trash those he finds getting in his way of creating a white nationalist country.
President Donald Trump’s closest allies are planning a slate of primary challenges against Republican senators, potentially undermining the party’s prospects in 2018 and further inflaming tensions between GOP leaders and the White House.
The effort is being led by Steve Bannon, Trump’s bomb-throwing former chief strategist, who is launching an all-out war against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican establishment. Bannon has begun holding private meetings with insurgent challengers, vowing his support. He’s coordinating with conservative mega-donor Robert Mercer, who is prepared to pour millions of dollars into attacks on GOP incumbents. Bannon has also installed a confidant at an outside group that is expected to target Republican lawmakers and push the Trump agenda.
Journalists have a duty to not just ask questions but to dig a bit deeper into politicos, especially ones like Steve Bannon. Charlie Rose can be very good, but come on.
Without the millions of dollars pumped into Breitbart and Bannon by Mercer, there wouldn't even be a 60 Minutes interview and the political world would have never heard of Steve Bannon.
