A disgraced Republican candidate who challenged House Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin took a swipe at Steve Bannon on Wednesday in response to controversial quotes made by Bannon in a new book.
Breitbart and Bannon recently denounced Paul Nehlen, who had a “penchant for tweeting out blatant anti-Semitic tropes,” when Bannon advisor Arthur Schwartz declared that “Nehlen is dead to us.”
Nehlen saw an opportunity to take a jab at Bannon on Wednesday after the former Trump campaign chairman said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would “crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV,” adding that he thought Trump Jr.’s meeting with the Russian lawyer was “treasonous,” “unpatriotic,” and “bad s***.”
In an absolutely absurd statement, Nehlen wrote:
As you know, Steve Bannon and Breitbart recently announced I was “dead to them.” President Trump has now just made it clear that *they* are dead to *him*. Good thing I had already been disavowed by Bannon and Breitbart, or I might be in an embarrassing position!
I had long considered Bannon and Breitbart a liability to me, my campaign, and the America First agenda. President Trump’s statement today confirms two points I have been making: First, that Bannon and Breitbart are unwilling to stand for a true America First agenda, and second, that because of this, they are nothing more than “controlled opposition” with no intention of winning the battle we have been tirelessly waging to Make America Great Again.
That brand of deception ends now.
Nehlen lost to Ryan in the 2016 Republican primary by 68 points, and that was with Breitbart actively promoting his campaign in a bid to unseat the incumbent. Without Breitbart’s backing, Nehlen has even less of a chance of achieving success, and his statement attacking his former allies reeks of someone who is in denial about reality and is desperately trying to save face.