Dem
47
GOP
53
Just kidding. Steve Bannon hasn't announced his running mate for the 2028 presidential race. But Bannon is definitely gearing up to run for president in 2028. Bannon doesn't expect to win—but neither did Donald Trump in 2016 (he was just running to get more public exposure so he could bully NBC into paying him more for his show The Apprentice.) What Bannon really wants is to take enough votes away from other candidates to force them to adopt more of his views. He is especially interested in "no more forever wars," economic populism, and opposition to Big Tech.
Bannon has been traveling around to talk to key people, get donors on board, and get the lay of the land. On Friday, he organized an all-day event entitled: "Save Texas from Radical Islam" in Grapevine, TX, which is equidistant from Dallas and Fort Worth. Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker. The event filled the 750-seat room, with hundreds turned away. In addition, Bannon is moving to Texas for the entire month of February to influence the March 3 primary. He supports corrupt Texas AG Ken Paxton (R). If Paxton gets the GOP nomination, the seat will probably be in play and Democrats should send Bannon a nice bouquet of flowers and thank him for his help.
Bannon's candidacy might be considered a joke, except it could cause problems for other candidates. For one thing, Bannon is a fierce opponent of Big Tech. J.D. Vance is practically the brainchild of Peter Thiel (maybe literally; see speculation above). Bannon said: "If you're in the White House not standing up to [tech], you're part of the problem, and that's all gonna get exposed." And again, Bannon is against forever wars. If the U.S. is involved in any wars anywhere in 2028, Bannon is going to harp on it. This puts Vance on the spot. If he agrees that all of Trump's wars are a terrible idea, Trump will be furious. But if Vance agrees with Trump, Bannon will attack him over and over on that, and those MAGA voters who are America Firsters will vote for Bannon to send Vance a message.
A Bannon candidacy will also be a problem for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, if he runs. Bannon is very anti-Israel and has accused Rubio of cozying up to Israel. If Rubio suddenly abandons Israel, he will appear like a hypocrite and will lose the evangelical Christians who believe that a condition for Jesus coming down from the sky for a visit is that there is a Jewish state in Israel.
Bannon will also be a thorn in the side for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) if he runs, as expected. Bannon has attacked Cruz on Israel and also for Cruz' support for a bill than would minimize regulation of AI. Bannon said: "Ted Cruz was the shill for Big Tech on the AI bill. He was holding the MAGA movement hostage."
In any event, if Bannon pulls the trigger there will be a lot of fireworks. He doesn't need tens of millions of dollars like any normal candidate. All he does is have to say truly explosive things and the media will swarm around him like flies around a pile of dung. He will get all the publicity he needs for free. No TV ads needed.
Getting back to the headline for a moment, Laura Loomer is one of the few people around who is crazy enough to want to be on a ticket with Bannon. She agrees with him on most issues, although there is one where they disagree strongly: Israel. That could be a problem, although her presence on the ticket might help with evangelicals, even though she is Jewish. If Bannon wants a woman on his "ticket," another option might be Marjorie Taylor Greene, although in the past, Bannon has been very critical of Greene and called for a primary challenge for her from the right. It's a tough call. (V)