Bannon made the remarks before reporting to federal prison
Democratic lawmaker calls out the media for focus on Biden debate performance
Sen. Chris Coons called out the New York Times and the media for their focus on President Biden's debate performance during an interview on CNN.
Steve Bannon – the on-again, off-again adviser to former President Trump – argued that President Biden’s poor performance in last week’s debate could actually be bad news for Trump.
"Trump’s Thursday was a Pyrrhic victory.… You’re going to take out a guy you know you can beat and beat badly, and we’re going to have a wild card," Bannon said in an interview with the Washington Post Sunday.
Bannon, who is set to report to prison Monday and serve a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, argued that the performance by Biden in last week’s debate would tank the president’s poll numbers and force him to exit the race. However, such a development would be bad news for Trump and the Republican Party.
"This is the best guy we’re ever going to get," Bannon said of running against Biden, arguing that not only would Trump win big, but that the GOP would secure 53 or 54 Senate seats while gaining another six seats in the House of Representatives.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon arrives at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to surrender himself to New York authorities, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Democratic lawmakers and donors have been reeling since Biden’s debate debacle, though the president’s campaign has insisted that the performance has done nothing to fundamentally change the race.
In a memo released Saturday, campaign manager Jen O’Malley argued that any dip in polls would be because of negative media coverage about the debate. Meanwhile, Biden himself has given no indication he plans to drop out.
But Bannon, who continues to speak occasionally with Trump and has spoken highly of those now running his campaign, believes it is too late for Biden and that the Trump campaign should start preparing to take on an alternative.
"We must weaponize their process and show the nation how callous they were, how self-serving they were, how they didn’t put the good of the nation first, they put the good of personal ambition first," Bannon said.
President Biden speaks during the CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"They’re going to be searching for a messiah, and then you’re going to have the honeymoon," Bannon continued. "By the time you get to the Democratic convention in late August, it must be so toxic that whoever it is – if it’s Michelle Obama or Gavin Newsom or whoever it is – that they start off with a minimum of a five-point to seven-point deficit."
Bannon will now surrender to authorities and start his sentence at a low-security federal prison in Connecticut after the Supreme Court rejected his petition to delay his sentence. The longtime Trump ally was convicted in July 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Nevertheless, Bannon, who hosts a popular podcast, vowed to continue using his voice from prison, noting that he will be able to reach followers through emails and interviews.
Steve Bannon appears in court in New York on Jan. 12, 2023. (AP)
"They can’t shut me up," Bannon said. "I’ll be bigger from prison."
Neither the Biden nor Trump campaigns immediately responded to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
