'Making me a martyr': Bannon’s MAGA allies vow to keep podcast afloat while he’s locked up

"War Room" host in Las Vegas on January 30, 2024 (Gage Skidmore)

This Monday, July 1, "War Room" host and former Trump White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is scheduled to report to a federal prison in Connecticut to serve a four-month sentence. Bannon was hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court would delay his incarceration while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction, but the justices rejected his request.

The 70-year-old Bannon won't be able to host "War Room" during his incarceration, but according to the Daily Beast's Kate Briquelet, his allies will keep the MAGA podcast going during the next four months.

Bannon, during a Sunday, June 30 interview, told the Daily Beast, "We'll do the morning War Room to kick off a Monday just like everywhere, but I'll do it outside the prison. Then, when I finish, I'll drop the mic and then go surrender."

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The far-right "War Room" host believes that serving a four-month federal prison sentence will help his podcast — not hurt it.

"It's very simple: I'm a political prisoner, because I have a very successful platform that reaches the common man," Bannon told the Beast. "They hate that, they will do anything to shut that down."

Bannon continued, "It doesn't matter that I'm in prison. The show will be bigger… They're making me a martyr. Steve Bannon is not. They're the ones to overplay their hand."

According to Briquelet, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) are among the MAGA Republicans who Bannon and his allies have in mind as co-hosts or guest hosts for "War Room" while he is incarcerated.

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Briquelet reports, "(Bannon) said the stand-ins also include conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, former Trump Administration official Kash Patel, far-right attorney Mike Davis, Senate candidate Royce White, former Fox News commentator Monica Crowley, and Noor bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's niece who's previously appeared on Bannon's show. The who's-who of Bannon World will also include Peter Navarro, another Trump adviser imprisoned for defying a House January 6 Committee subpoena, who's expected to chip in once he's released July 17."

Briquelet notes that a 2023 study cited "War Room" as a major source of disinformation and promoter of election denialism.

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Read The Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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