‘Not Enough For Now’

[ad_1]

Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon expressed frustration Friday with the former president for not fighting harder for conservative priorities.

Bannon, a staunch Trump ally who served as a White House strategist in 2017, voiced a rare criticism of the 2024 presidential candidate on an episode of his War Room podcast in a discussion about how he believes that Trump’s own administration sought to undermine his rule.

In his podcast, Bannon spoke out against a massive spending bill that Congress is considering that would fund government agencies. Conservatives, including Bannon, oppose the bill, saying it will “kill the economy.”

Democrats are seeking to pass a $1.5 trillion bill to fund the government through the end of the year with the end of funding on Dec. 16, but some Republicans have raised concerns about its cost. Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said the two parties are about $25 billion on the bill, according to Reuters on Thursday.

Above, a split photo of former President Donald Trump and his former adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon on Friday expressed frustration with Trump, calling on him to “raise the game.” Brandon Bell/Getty Images and Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Bannon criticized Trump for not engaging in policy battles over bills like this one, calling on him to “come out with the Truth,” an apparent reference to Truth Social, Trump’s social media website where he post often.

“The president and Mar-a-Lago, you’ve got to raise the game. You’ve got to be better. It’s not good enough right now,” Bannon said. “I hate to be so brutally frank, but we’re fighting for the country. You have to get off the Truth, got to get engaged in these battles up here right now, because that sets the stage for your second term.”

Trump has posted frequently on Truth Social in recent weeks, often defending himself against the myriad controversies and legal troubles that have so far defined his 2024 presidential campaign, as well as voicing criticisms against President Joe Biden.

However, he has remained quieter on policy topics such as the spending bill, drawing rare criticism from Bannon, who continues to support him.

Bannon, in a statement to Newsweek on Saturday, listed several conservative priorities in which Trump must “go to great lengths to defeat,” describing the former president as “the leader of the Republican Party and MAGA/America First, the most powerful Political Movement in American History,” to fight for conservative priorities.

“On Capitol Hill in the next 15 days the debt ceiling, a $2 trillion Unfunded Omnibus Bill and Amnesty for 2 to 4 million illegals will be decided. all-in to defeat,” Bannon wrote.

In recent weeks, Bannon has voiced some criticism of Trump, as some Republicans distanced themselves from the former president after last month’s poor GOP midterm results.

In November, Bannon called out members of Trump’s staff who allowed him to dine at Mar-a-Lago with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, who has made a series of antisemitic comments recently. The dinner sparked a wave of backlash against Trump, including from some Republicans.

Bannon described the dinner, where West offered Trump the vice presidential spot on his own ticket in 2024, as a “trolling operation” that made Trump seem “lacking judgment.”

“So think about it. It didn’t just happen. The staff should know that. The staff should be on top of that. The staff should be making interventions about it, if that’s the case, and making sure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen,” Bannon said.

[ad_2]