Steve Bannon lobbied Trump to stop him from publicly criticizing Roy Moore: report

Former White House aide and current Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon has spoken to President Donald Trump at least once in the past week in an attempt to stop him from publicly criticizing Alabama's GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore in the wake of the latter's sexual misconduct scandal.

According to The Daily Beast, sources close to both the White House and Bannon say the Breitbart executive "has spoken multiple times on the phone to President Trump since late last week," and at least one of those calls was spent trying to convince the president not to speak out about Moore.

The report also claims that after his own period of doubt about Moore, Bannon also lobbied Fox News host Sean Hannity, who issued a short-lived ultimatum to the Alabama candidate to "prove" he didn't assault or have relationships with teen girls when in his 30's. After Bannon's efforts, the Beast claims, Hannity then doubled down on his support for the candidate.