President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist on Sunday called on American Jews to join his war on the GOP establishment.
Steve Bannon appealed to the Zionist Organization of America to ‘work as partners’ in his crusade against GOP leaders he blames for blocking Trump’s agenda.
Bannon delivered the fiery address at the organization’s annual awards dinner in New York, with several current and former Trump staffers in attendance.
‘We’re leading an insurgency movement against the Republican establishment,’ Bannon charged, blaming his adversaries in the establishment for playing games.
Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist to President Donald Trump, is calling on American Jews to join his war on the Republican establishment
‘That’s how you get the Iran deal,’ he continued. ‘That’s how we still allow the American government to finance people that have blood on their hands of innocent Jewish civilians.’
There are a number of scores of establishment conservatives, Republicans, and a number of GOP senators who are standing in open rebellion against Donald Trump.
His biggest critics come from those not standing for reelection, such as Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. Yet the many more who quietly oppose the president are too scared to speak out in case Bannon, along with other vocal Trump supporters, supports a Republican challenger against them in their next election.
Bannon, working with right-wing billionaire Robert Mercer, is attempting to find and support challengers for every Republican senator whose loyalty to the president comes under question.
His biggest target is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a stalwart of the GOP establishment, who is currently engaged in what some are calling a ‘political cold war’ with Trump, the LA Times reports.
McConnell reportedly told his colleagues he doesn’t believe Trump will last to the end of his first term, while Trump, who is no longer on speaking terms with McConnell, has gone after him on the failed Obamacare repeal and even blamed him for not doing enough to protect the administration from the Russian investigation.
The Zionist Organization of America has largely embraced Bannon and the ZOA President Morton Klein is a frequent contributor to his conservative news outlet Breitbart News.
Bannon, who left the White House in August, is now trying to raise money to defeat several sitting Republican senators he says are blocking Trump’s agenda in Washington (pictured with Trump in January)
But other Jewish leaders have raised concerns about him and Breitbart News, which is popular among some white supremacists, anti-Semites and others who identify with the so-called alt-right movement. It has also been criticized for its failing to remove anti-Semitic comments on articles.
Bannon was previously accused of anti-Semitism by his ex-wife in their divorce proceedings.
She claimed in a sworn statement in 2007 that her ex had repeatedly made anti-Jewish comments when they were choosing what schools to send their daughters.
‘The biggest problem he had with (Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles) is the number of Jews that attend,’ his former wife, Mary Louise Piccard said in her statement signed on June 27, 2007.
‘He said that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiny brats’ and that he didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews,’ Piccard wrote.
Bannon’s spokeswoman denied the allegations.
Bannon, who left the White House in August, is now trying to raise money to defeat several sitting Republican senators he says are blocking Trump’s agenda in Washington.
Bannon is attempting to find and support challengers for every Republican senator whose loyalty to the president comes under question. His biggest target is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (pictured) who is currently engaged in what some are calling a ‘political cold war’ with Trump
‘President Trump needs our back,’ he declared. ‘We’re a nation at war. This war is only going to be won if we bind together and work as partners.’
‘We were excited to bring Steve Bannon to the ZOA Gala,’ ZOA President Morton Klein told Breitbart News ahead of the address.
‘A well-known top-level Israeli official told me, ‘You know from the outside that Bannon is a friend of Israel.’ I can tell you, as an insider, that he is the greatest friend of Israel imaginable.’
‘If Steve Bannon was an anti-Semite or racist, ZOA would be at his throat, not giving him a podium to speak at our most prestigious gala,’ Klein added, combating false accusations that Bannon and Breitbart News are ‘anti-Semitic,’ adamant that such charges by other groups are mislaid.
Other speakers at Sunday’s event included eminent law Professor Alan Dershowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Sheldon Adelson.