Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon says the firing of FBI Director James Comey may have been the biggest mistake in ‘modern political history.’
Bannon confirmed he opposed President Donald Trump’s decision to oust Comey, calling the FBI ‘an institution.’
He told CBS’s60 Minutes that institutions such as the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives can be changed ‘if the leadership is changed.’
But he said the FBI is different.
‘I don’t believe that the institutional logic of the FBI, and particularly in regards to an investigation, could possibly be changed by changing the head of it,’ Bannon said.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon says the firing of FBI Director James Comey may have been the biggest mistake in ‘modern political history’
Bannon confirmed he opposed President Donald Trump’s (left) decision to oust Comey (right), calling the FBI ‘an institution’
The ousted White House adviser also said that if Comey hadn’t been fired, ‘We would not have the Mueller investigation,’ referring to special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller is leading the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government during the recent presidential election.
Bannon also took aim Sunday at current and former Republican leaders, including former President George W. Bush and his administration, for not embracing Trump.
Bannon, who departed the White House last month after seven months in the West Wing, told 60 Minutes on Sunday that he believes the Republican establishment has been conspiring to ‘nullify’ Trump’s election to the presidency.
His far-right views on immigration, climate and trade helped shape Trump’s presidential campaign and his first months in office.
Bannon also took aim Sunday at current and former Republican leaders, including former President George W. Bush (left) and his administration, for not embracing Trump. Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, is seen on the right
He called Republican national security officials who had served in the Bush administration ‘idiots,’ including former secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice (above)
But he was fired by the Republican president last month in a push to end factional fights within the White House.
He called Republican national security officials who had served in the George W. Bush administration ‘idiots,’ including former secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
‘I hold these people in contempt, total and complete contempt,’ Bannon said, blaming them for U.S. trade problems with China and involvement in Iraq.
‘They’re idiots, and they’ve gotten us in this situation, and they question a good man like Donald Trump,’ Bannon said.
During the election campaign, a number of high-profile Republicans announced that they would support Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Rosario Marin, who was treasury secretary under George W. Bush, endorsed Clinton, according to the Washington Examiner.
She was joined by other Republicans including Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state; former secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez; another former treasurer, Henry Paulson; and former undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns.
Bannon also singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (left) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (right) for criticism, saying that they ‘do not want Donald Trump’s populist, economic nationalist agenda to be implemented’
A number of former officials in the Bush White House have been some of Trump’s most vocal critics, including Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director from 2005 until 2006.
Richard Painter, the chief ethics lawyer for the Bush White House, has also frequently denounced Trump.
Both Wallace and Painter are seen regularly on the left-leaning cable news channel MSNBC.
Bannon says that since Trump assumed his desk in the Oval Office, Republicans have been working to undermine his agenda.
‘The Republican establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election,’ Bannon said, saying it was an ‘open secret on Capitol Hill’ that many Republicans did not support Trump’s agenda, and singling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan for criticism.
‘They do not want Donald Trump’s populist, economic nationalist agenda to be implemented,’ Bannon said.
Bannon warned that Republican infighting over the fate of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children could be so vitriolic that the party loses control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year.
In the interview, Bannon predicted Republicans could lose control in the House in the 2018 congressional elections because of a looming battle over what to do about 800,000 immigrants known as ‘Dreamers.’
Trump said last week he would scrap a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that allowed the young immigrants to live and work in America.
Thousands join the Defend DACA March in Los Angeles on Sunday to oppose Trump’s order to end DACA. Bannon predicted Republicans could lose control in the House in the 2018 congressional elections because of a looming battle over what to do about ‘Dreamers’
Bannon supported ending the program, which had been put in place by Democratic former President Barack Obama.
Trump gave the Republican-controlled Congress six months to come up with an alternative, saying he would ‘revisit this issue’ if lawmakers could not agree.
‘I’m worried about losing the House now because of this,’ Bannon told CBS.
‘If this goes all the way down to its logical conclusion, in February and March it will be a civil war inside the Republican Party,’ he said.
‘And to me, doing that in the springboard of primary season for 2018 is extremely unwise.’
Republicans are divided over the Dreamers.
Some believe they are illegal immigrants who are taking American jobs, while others say they contribute to the country and deserve compassion.