Dem
47
GOP
53
Steve Bannon is ramping up attacks on Elon Musk, who is the poster boy for the elites Bannon hates with a passion. The H-1B skirmish was only the beginning. Bannon is clearly intending to use his influence and audience to cut Musk down to size. He gave an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera recently. Here is a Google translation of the first thing he told the paper:
I will get Elon Musk kicked out by the time he gets inaugurated. He will not have a blue pass with full access to the White House. He will be like everyone else. He is a truly evil person. Stopping him has become a personal issue for me. Before, since he put up so much money, I was ready to tolerate it. Not anymore.
Even if Google translate didn't get it perfectly, the gist is pretty clear. Even for a non-Italian speaker, "È una persona davvero malvagia" makes the point.
Bannon later said: "Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans... making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?" He also said that Musk wants to implement techno-feudalism on a global scale.
If Bannon is genuinely set on having Donald Trump ditch Musk, it will set up a battle of the titans. Bannon is a multimillionaire, but not on Musk's scale, of course. But Bannon has access to Trump's base via his podcast and has the ability to label Musk as one of the elites that Trump was hired to get rid of. He has the power to turn Trump's base against Musk.
So far, Trump hasn't had to choose between Musk (whose actual usefulness is over now that he is not needed for campaign donations) and Bannon (who has a lot of influence with the base). If Bannon keeps up his attacks and calls for Musk to be kicked out of the DOGE pen, Musk will probably fight back. He is not one to let this sort of stuff slide. That battle could end up forcing Trump to go with one or the other. Dumping either one could have serious consequences for Trump, but if the attacks get louder, he might soon have to choose and disown one of the two, consequences be damned. (V)