At 68, Bannon shares the far-right views that, thanks to Trump, have propelled him to the pinnacle of power. Easily recognizable by his gray hair, he was accused of “obstructing congressional investigative privileges.”
The former aide was accused of ignoring the invitation of a parliamentary committee to determine responsibility for the capital invasion. Earlier in the day, Bannon predicted “an inferno” would be created. He was on the phone with Trump, a sign that he remained close to the Republican president even after he was ousted from the White House.
Pardoned by Trump
There is more evidence of a connection between the two: the former tenant of the White House, shortly before leaving it, pardoned his former aide in another case in which he was accused of embezzling funds for the purpose of building a border wall. With Mexico.
In the months before Trump’s election victory in 2016, Bannon began denouncing a world order controlled by political and financial elites, views he defended when he ran the controversial Breitbart news site, a platform for the “alt-right” movement. with conspiracies partly orchestrated by activists who believed in white supremacy.
Bannon’s entry into the White House in 2017 generated opposition from anti-racism associations, which recalled numerous incendiary articles published in Breitbart that approached anti-Semitism, evoked nostalgia for the Confederate flag, or condemned multiculturalism. “I’m not a white supremacist, I’m a nationalist, an economic nationalist,” Bannon said in his first White House interview.
For months, “President Bannon” never won the support of the press, which he called the “opposition,” or the “elite,” as he promised.
In August 2017, Bannon was ousted from government following violent actions during a rally by far-right activists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Finance and Cinema
Bannon was born in Norfolk to a pro-Kennedy and union working-class Democratic family. After completing his studies, he joined the Navy for several years.
The former consultant worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in the 1980s and founded Bannon & Co, a small investment bank that was acquired by Société Générale. From there he went to Hollywood.
In the 2000s, he began making political films about Ronald Reagan or the Tea Party. He met Andrew Breitbart, the founder of the website of the same name, and joined the Tea Party’s battle against the American political “establishment” against the Democrats and Republicans.
In recent years, Bannon has broadened his horizons, showing strong support for far-right or nationalist parties in Asia, Latin America, and especially in Europe, where he met Marine Le Pen.
* Sebastien Blanc, AFP
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