Steve Bannon Says If Trump Is Re-Elected, It Will Be Four Years Of ‘Payback Mode’
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon says that none of the Democrats running against Donald Trump so far have the ability to beat him in the upcoming presidential election, and if Trump wins re-election, it will be four years of “payback.” While speaking with Politico’s Playbook, Bannon said that the country will see Trump untethered if he wins in 2020.
Bannon believes that the country hasn’t seen anything yet when it comes to Trump’s outspoken and brash behavior.
“You’re going to get pure Trump off the chain. Four years of Donald Trump in payback mode,” he said.
In addition, Bannon said that he doesn’t believe any Democrats currently in the race can take on Trump and win.
“Every other day I see another person jumping into the race. I think those people are rational and the people around them are rational. They must see something in the field that makes them feel like they can make a run. … I don’t see anybody in that field as of now who can take on Trump one-on-one.”
Bannon also said that he doesn’t believe Democrats can win based on policy alone, but he praised Senator Elizabeth Warren for the policy approach she is considering.
“You’re not going to beat Trump with policies, right? … Elizabeth Warren has an incredibly detailed and probably the most well thought-through set of policy prescriptions, and they keep coming every day. She’s at, what, 7%, 8%?”
Steve Bannon: If Trump Is Reelected He'll Be Off The Chain, You'll Get Four Years Of Him In "Payback Mode" – https://t.co/4iacYnVoWs pic.twitter.com/23FsckGnhB
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) April 11, 2019
This is not the first time that Bannon has suggested that his former boss will beat out his Democratic challengers in 2020. In February, Bannon told USA Today that he believed Trump would win re-election “bigger” than he won 2016. He conceded that regardless of the outcome of the Mueller report, which hadn’t been released at that point, he believed that Democrats would weaponize the Mueller report to shift voters away from Trump.
Regardless of the Mueller outcome, Bannon believes that the strong economy will help push Trump to victory. He also predicted that the Mueller report would give Trump a focus rather than weakening his position.
He also predicted that 2019 would be an extremely contentious year, politically. Bannon said that it would be the “most vitriolic” year since those leading up the Civil War.
So far, Trump faces challenges from 17 Democrats, including Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, and Republican Bill Weld.
Bannon added to Politico that he thinks Ted Cruz’s new facial hair is “bada**” and could have gone farther in the 2016 race.
