Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon continued to sow doubt about Democrats’ ability to win in November unless they “are stealing,” following a pattern of spreading falsehoods about election security as he heads to prison in Monday.
Bannon reiterated to NBC News in an interview Saturday that he believes there is “no chance” Democrats will win the November election unless “they are stealing.”
Bannon, a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, has been peddling false claims about the 2020 election for years and appears to be pushing similar claims in the event of a Democratic victory this fall.
“Democrats don’t have the ability to win unless they cheat,” he said Saturday.
Bannon remained defiant over the weekend as he prepared to report to prison on Monday for four months. He was convicted of defying House committee subpoenas on January 6 to testify in the investigation of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
Bannon also said in ABC news‘ “This week” over the weekend that “all bets are off” until the November election is “tried and reviewed,” when he was asked if he would tell Trump supporters to respect the poll results.
“Here’s the bottom line: When this is adjudicated and reviewed, if it’s certifiable, chain-of-custody ballots and American citizen votes, then, hey, whatever the outcome is, it’s going to be completely fair. Until such time as we get that , all bets are off,” he said.
Asked if he would send the message of “no more violence”, Bannon responded, arguing that “no one can deduce that we are calling for violence”.
Moments later, he defended his comments, framing the political environment as “victory or death”.
In the NBC News interview, Bannon also said his ultimate goal was “the victory or death of this republic.”
He said he believes “the MAGA movement is shifting to the right day by day,” arguing that “President Trump is a moderate in our movement.”
“I think this is the next phase of MAGA — ‘America First’ was the first phase,” Bannon said. “‘American Citizens First’ is phase two. And I think we’ll get there, and I think there will be huge political fights over it.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
