Bannon 'drank his own Kool-Aid' for months — and didn't realize a judge wouldn't buy his talk: expert
On Friday's edition of MSNBC's "All In," Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Joshua Green walked through today's conviction of longtime Trump strategist Steve Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress.
The key thing, said Green — who previously authored a book describing Bannon's relationship with the former president — argued that Bannon had come to believe his own spurious legal proclamations, and wasn't expecting he'd ever face consequences for his actions.
"It's kind of remarkable," said Green. "It's a huge comedown for Bannon. You know, we started this process last October, when he was hit with a subpoena, vowing to 'go medieval' on his enemies, that was his quote. He said he would make it a 'misdemeanor from hell' for the Biden administration. But he wound up not even taking the stand in his own defense today, and wound up with two guilty charges. So, I think it shows the bubble that he's been living in for the past six months, where you know, all the misinformation, all the kinds of things he has been propagating, I think he's sort of drank his own Kool-Aid in the end, and didn't understand, or didn't want to face the fact that he is in a court of law and that sort of thing isn't going to fly, and the judge made that clear, the jury made that clear."
"He also — I mean, last time they played some sound of him talking to a crowd that was uncovered by Mother Jones, telling that Trump is gonna declare victory, and then, if he's actually losing and declares victory, it's gonna be a wild ride, or something like that," said anchor Chris Hayes. "There is evidence that the president talked to Bannon on the phone right before Bannon went on, and said 'it's not gonna happen the way you think it's gonna happen, strap in.' I mean, take it back to the original reason he was subpoenaed, he's clearly a witness, and an important one, to ... an attempt to end American democracy."
"Absolutely," said Green. "So the idea that he'd be allowed to skate, and he wouldn't have to face any accountability for spurning the subpoena, it defies reason. I think part of what's behind this, last week, I talked to a lot of people around Bannon, allies of his. And really, nobody understands what he thinks he's doing, besides using this as a platform for his own aggrandizement, and to kind of boost listenership for his podcast.
"But one of the refrains I heard was that Bannon, until today, never faced accountability for his actions," continued Green. "If you remember, two years ago, he ducked criminal charges for his alleged involvement in a scheme to build a privately-funded border wall. But at the last minute, he finagled a pardon from Trump. I think he's gone on so far in life, being able to talk his way out of situations, and not really having to face a body like this that has real powers to hold him accountable, that he just didn't think through what it was he was doing. And I think you see the consequences of that with the verdict today."
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