Steve Bannon, the onetime guru of President Trump’s historic win in 2016 (at least in his own mind), came forward on Sunday with a groveling explanation to the president of the United States and his son about his comments in a new book.
He didn’t apologize, but rather expressed “regret” that he took so long to comment on the firestorm that consumed Washington, D.C., last week.
Bannon’s statement:
“Donald Trump, Jr. is both a patriot and a good man. He has been relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around.
“My support is also unwavering for the president and his agenda — as I have shown daily in my national radio broadcasts, on the pages of Breitbart News and in speeches and appearances from Tokyo and Hong Kong to Arizona and Alabama. President Trump was the only candidate that could have taken on and defeated the Clinton apparatus. I am the only person to date to conduct a global effort to preach the message of Trump and Trumpism; and remain ready to stand in the breach for this president’s efforts to make America great again.
“My comments about the meeting with Russian nationals came from my life experiences as a Naval officer stationed aboard a destroyer whose main mission was to hunt Soviet submarines to my time at the Pentagon during the Reagan years when our focus was the defeat of ‘the evil empire’ and to making films about Reagan’s war against the Soviets and Hillary Clinton’s involvement in selling uranium to them.
“My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate. He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr.
“Everything I have to say about the ridiculous nature of the Russian ‘collusion’ investigation I said on my 60 Minutes interview. There was no collusion and the investigation is a witch hunt.
“I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the president’s historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency.”
Bannon’s world fell apart after the release of Michael Wolff’s book “Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House.” His financial backers for Breitbart News, where he is executive chairman, promptly abandoned him, and Trump dismissed “Sloppy Steve” as having “lost his mind.”
The former White House strategist has remained silent throughout the week of tumult following the book’s release. In the book, Bannon faulted Donald Trump Jr., along with former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, for attending a meeting with Russians during the presidential campaign.
“Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s***, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately , ” Bannon was quoted in the book.
Trump ripped the book as “full of lies” and called Wolff a “total loser.”
On Sunday, Trump wrote on Twitter:
But that was before Bannon’s “apology.” Trump is known to hold a grudge, so we’ll see if the president accepts the mea culpa.