MAGA activist Steve Bannon may be out of the White House as President Donald Trump’s second term kicks off, but his guilty plea on Tuesday opened him up to a new round of criticism – including from the conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.
In a strongly worded opinion piece titled “How Steve Bannon Fleeced MAGA Donors,” the Journal’s editorial board slammed the podcast host’s actions that ultimately led to him pleading guilty in New York state court.
Bannon, a former Trump advisor during his first administration, admitted Tuesday to engaging in a scheme to defraud MAGA donors who contributed money to a private project called “We Build the Wall.”
It was enough for the Journal’s board to launch a full-throated condemnation of the right-wing Trump ally.
“Grandstanding as a populist, Mr. Bannon raised millions from concerned plumbers and truck drivers and retirees, and then secretly siphoned off money,” the editorial board told readers. “Maybe he thinks MAGA stands for Make America Grift Again.”
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In their op-ed, the board detailed how Bannon pleaded not guilty to similar charges in federal court in 2020 before he was “sprung from liability” when Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his first presidency.
“Mr. Trump’s pardon message called Mr. Bannon ‘an important leader in the conservative movement,’ and it didn’t even attempt to grapple with the charges or justify invalidating them,” the board wrote.
The Journal noted that while “some donors to We Build the Wall said, ‘they did not have a lot of money and were skeptical about online fundraising campaigns.’ But because they trusted the cause, ‘they were giving what they could.’”
The plea deal Bannon struck with New York state prosecutors Tuesday includes “no jail time if he keeps his nose clean for three years,” the board added.