Steve Bannon is continuing his self-declared war on the Republican establishment and delivered a particularly withering takedown of former president George W. Bush on Friday night, characterizing him as a puppet who follows orders and has no idea what’s going on. “He has no earthly idea of whether he’s coming or going, just like when he was president,” Bannon said.
Bannon was responding to a widely reported speech Bush gave in New York earlier this week in which he rejected bigotry and warned of “nationalism distorted into nativism.” Bush never actually mentioned President Donald Trump by name but there was little doubt what he was referring to when he said that “bigotry seems emboldened.”
Bannon made clear Friday night he would not accept criticism from someone who he sees as representing everything that is wrong with the Republican Party today. Trump’s former adviser said Bush “embarrassed himself” with a “high falutin” speech that was written for him. “It was clear he didn’t understand anything he was talking about,” Bannon said.
“There has not been a more destructive presidency than George Bush’s,” Bannon told a big crowd at the California Republican Party convention, putting at center stage the sharp divisions that exist within Republicans. “The permanent political class that runs this country is one of the great dangers that we face in this country,” he added. Bannon received a standing ovation.
