Abcarian: Steve Bannon discovers the hard way that defying Congress is no joke
Steve Bannon, chief strategist to President Donald Trump, and a former adviser to President George W. Bush, says he is “surprised” that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other Republicans are so afraid of the Trump administration that they are afraid to challenge him on policy.
“They don’t like the Trump administration, but they do like the fact that they’re in it,” Bannon told Breitbart News Executive Chairman and self-styled “platform creator” Stephen Bannon in a telephone interview on Monday.
“If the president has a problem with somebody … I’ll do it. I’m on the Trump team,” he said.
Bannon declined to identify who he had spoken to on the phone but described the conversation as “friendly” and took several questions on immigration, military spending, and the Russia investigation.
“I was surprised how much of the opposition is in the Senate,” Bannon said in response to a question about why Senate Republicans are refusing to hold hearings on Trump’s proposed budget. “It’s one of the great stories in American politics.”
“I don’t have any real policy advice for them,” he said. “I just thought they would welcome my counsel on the law.”
In an interview last week with Breitbart News Daily, Bannon praised Sen. Paul and other Republicans for joining his Freedom Caucus.
“It turns out even the GOP Establishment doesn’t like what President Trump is doing,” Bannon said, referring to the conservative group founded by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in 2014.
“The Freedom Caucus has more power than anybody else, which is a good thing,” Bannon said. “If he really wanted to work with them, he would get his bill done.”
Bannon said the Trump administration had a good relationship with the Freedom
