POLITICS/STEVE BANNON/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just-departed White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is breaking from President Donald Trump in the closely watched Alabama Senate special election.
During a closed-door meeting with powerful conservatives in Washington last week, Bannon declared that he’s supporting former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore over Trump-endorsed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, according to two people who were present. Bannon, who just over a week ago left the White House to rejoin the conservative website Breitbart News, said he is looking to activate the conservative base to Moore’s cause.
Appearing before a meeting of the secretive Conservative Action Project, Bannon made it clear that he supported Moore, a favorite among evangelicals, but was careful not to cast it as a break with the president. Rather, he said, it was an act of opposition toward Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is supporting Strange and has made the race a top political priority…
Bannon declined to comment. Since leaving the White House, the flame-throwing populist has expressed a desire to wage political combat against what he describes as moderate forces — both inside and outside the White House — who are trying to pull Trump to the middle.”
-Alex Isenstadt, “Bannon wages war against Trump-backed candidate in Alabama,” Politico, Aug. 28, 2017 09:44pm