Steve Bannon told ’60 Minutes’ on Wednesday that the Roman Catholic Church has been supportive of the Obama-era ‘Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals’ program protecting young illegal immigrants from deportation – because it needs children of border-jumpers to fill both pews and collection plates.
Bannon, a thrice-married Catholic himself, criticized New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan for opposing President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind DACA.
Dolan called the move ‘not Christian’ and ‘not American’ on Tuesday, saying Catholics provide ‘special solicitude’ for immigrants because ‘they come to us first. The highest percentage of immigrants are, guess what? Catholic.’
The first published clips from Bannon’s extended CBS News sitdown hit the Internet Thursday morning, including the excerpt that will have mainstream Catholics wincing.
Steve Bannon claims in a ’60 Minutes’ interview that the Roman Catholic Church, of which he is himself a member, embraces illegal immigrants because its leaders want their money in collection plates
Pope Francis has emerged as a staunch defender of immigrants in general, and has complained about the use of the word ‘illegal’ to describe some of them in North America
President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that he would take ‘no action’ to deport DACA beneficiaries during the six-month period he has given Congress to craft a permanent replacement for the program
‘The bishops have been terrible about this by the way,’ Bannon tells co-host Charlie Rose in one excerpt. ‘You know why? You know why? Because, unable to really come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens.’
‘They need illegal aliens to fill the churches. That’s – it’s obvious on the face of it.’
He added that the reason ‘the entire Catholic [conference of] bishops condemn him,’ Trump, is that ‘they have an economic interest in unlimited immigration, unlimited illegal immigration.’
DACA, which President Trump has placed on a 6-month countdown to termination if Congress doesn’t act to codify it into law, guarantees protection against deportation for nearly 800,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Trump tweeted Thursday morning that his administration would take ‘no action’ to deport the policy’s beneficiaries ‘during the 6 month period,’ telling them: ‘[Y]ou have nothing to worry about.’
Pope Francis has emerged as a champion for migrants of all kinds, including refugees and those who slip across borders unlawfully for purely economic reasons.
The Pontiff said in an April interview that the news media should focus on human rights, natural disasters and poverty as drivers of mass-migration, without paying as much attention to legalities.
‘How many times do you hear them speak of “illegal” as a synonym for migrant?’ Francis asked the Italian magazine LibertàCivili. ‘This is incorrect … and that pushes the public to develop a negative opinion.’
‘The defense of human beings knows no barriers,’ he added. ‘We are all united in wanting to ensure a dignified life for every man, woman, child forced to abandon their land.’
Bannon describes himself as a ‘street fighter’ and has no qualms about attacking his own church – whose official view on immigration he belittled as ‘just another guy with an opinion’
’60 Minutes’ co-host Charlie Rose (right) interviewed Bannon Wednesday at the Washington, D.C. row house that serves as Breitbart News’s headquarters
Bannon is a self-described ‘street fighter’ whose famed view on making controversial statements refers to an Internet meme about a skunk-like creature known for its tenacious hunting: ‘Honey badger don’t give a s**t.’
That cavalier back-of-the-hand approach to his church was on full view in the ’60 Minutes’ interview, which will air Sunday night in full.
‘I totally respect the Pope and I totally respect the Catholic bishops and cardinals on doctrine,’ he said. ‘This is not about doctrine.’
‘This is about the sovereignty of a nation. And in that regard, they’re just another guy with an opinion.’
The interview took place at a Capitol Hill row house that serves as headquarters for Breitbart News, a conservative website that Bannon helmed before and after his brief White House tenure.
Bannon famously upbraided the news media in January, a week after Donald Trump became president, for misreading America’s political and electoral landscape.
‘The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,’ he told The New York Times in one feisty interview back then.
‘I want you to quote this,’ he added then. ‘The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.’
On Wednesday as word filtered through Washington that Bannon would take his populist message to CBS, tongues wagged in the West Wing.
‘Steve should take his own advice and shut up for awhile,’ one White House official told DailyMail.com as news of the ’60 Minute’ interview broke on Wednesday.
‘Now that he’s gone he can showboat all he wants, I guess, but it’s just going to underscore what a lousy, lousy team player he always was.’
Reached for comment on Thursday morning, that same official said: ‘Mamma mia! It’s a bad idea to try and out-Pope the Pope.’