The host of “War Room” blasted Senate Republicans for going along with a 47-day continuing resolution that will fund the federal government until November 17 because he said it was part of a behind-the-scenes plot to foist Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin upon voters as the establishment alternative to former President Donald J. Trump.
“I told you this 47 days in the Senate is McConnell and the big money donors exactly linked to Youngkin’s bid to flip the Senate in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Stephen K. Bannon to his audience.
“Where did 47 days come from?” he asked. “It’s McConnell and the donor class and the uni-party trying to prop up Youngkin.” Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is the Republican leader in the upper chamber.
Senators passed their resolution 76-22, with both of the commonwealth’s Democratic senators, Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), voting with the majority. Twenty-six Republican senators voted for the bill.
Bannon channeled the anxiety of the GOP establishment: “Oh, we can’t have a shutdown because the people in Northern Virginia are going to get upset, and he can’t win, and he can’t mount a challenge because DeSantis is finished, Nikki Haley is finished, and happy talk Tim Scott is finished—finished before they ever started.”
The War Room host said if Youngkin successfully wins a majority in his State Senate, where Democrats enjoy a 22-18 edge, major donors would immediately rally behind the governor as the candidate to block President Donald J. Trump.
“Then, they’ll dump DeSantis, they’ll dump Nikki Haley, dump all the Kebler elves,” he said. “Then it’s Youngkin versus Trump for the primary.” Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is often second to Trump in polls, and he was backed by major GOP donors.
A source familiar with the thinking of the governor and his inner circle told The Virginia Star the Youngkin plan was always to look at the political landscape after the commonwealth’s off-cycle legislative elections.
The source said Youngkin would decide by Thanksgiving, but thinking was based on the assumption that Trump and DeSantis would be at loggerheads.
In The Economist/YouGov national poll of 1,500 eligible voters conducted September 26 through September 29, Trump led DeSantis with 51 percent to the Floridian’s 12 percent.
DeSantis’ failure to mount a serious challenge to Trump changes the dynamic as the Virginian, as his supporters see him taking over the DeSantis mantle rather than counting on the Florida governor to weaken the president.
In The Washington Post Thursday, Robert Costa wrote that Youngkin’s political organization hosts a “Red Vest Retreat” on October 17.
SCOOP/NEWS: Push for Youngkin 2024 now taking shape as donors and Rs grow alarmed. “Red Vest Retreat” Oct. 17-18 in VA Beach… Billionaire backer Peterffy assures me “money would be there.” Bill Barr telling him to put his “oar in.”https://t.co/vqnO7WLPtX
— Robert Costa (@costareports) September 28, 2023
The CBS News chief election correspondent said the purpose of the retreat was nominally about the fight to take control of the Senate. “But unofficially, several donors tell me, it will be an opportunity for them to try to push, if not shove, Youngkin into the Republican presidential race.”
Pressure on Youngkin has only increased after Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate, where none of the candidates emerged as a legitimate Trump challenger, he said.
Drafting Youngkin as a last-minute addition to the sclerotic Republican presidential field is something that has lingered for months as a donor fantasy — a whispered, can-you-imagine gambit rarely meriting much discussion because there has been widespread hope that somebody, anybody, would gain traction against former president Donald Trump. But now, fantasy talk of an audacious, break-the-glass moment for the anti-Trump faction has morphed into not-so-quiet consideration.
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Neil W. McCabe is a staff reporter for The Virginia Star.
